A Mother and a Father: The Adoption Verse
by lizandletdie
Summary: When Belle French discovers her son's biological father never consented to the adoption, life becomes a lot more complicated for both parents. But can two parents share the same child? Painfully slow burn Floof Family Fluff Prompt!verse.
1. Chapter 1

**smelling-rumple-leatherpantsu prompted**:  
Incapable of have own children,Belle adopts a child called Bae, ten years later, his father returns to fight the custody of the child, like biological father. Thank you.

* * *

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Belle sat stiff as a board across from this Mr. Gold who had come to ruin her life. "He is my ___son._"

"The problem, Miss French," he said so casually she wanted to reach across the table and slap him, "is that he's my son first."

"I adopted him," she glanced through the window to see where her darling Bae was practicing free throws in the driveway. He was ___her child_. She had raised him, dammit. "Where were you then, the first ten years of his life? He's been my son since the day he was born."

"I never knew he was alive until last year," he supplied. "His mother never asked my permission to give him up for adoption, nor did she obtain my consent."

Belle was suddenly lightheaded. Oh god, she was going to faint in front of this man and he would steal her son. She suddenly had to touch Bae, there was a bone-deep ___need _to wrap her arms around him and reassure herself that he was still hers and did not belong to this stranger who shared his chin and eyes. She just knew that if she could get outside and lay her hands on him and smell the scent of him, breathe in the smell of his hair as she had done every night since he was a newborn, then her blood would stop draining out of her face and her breathing would even out.

She couldn't make it that far, though, before blackness enveloped her.

When she came to again, she could smell her son and that was what convinced her to open her eyes.

She was relieved to see the familiar brown eyes looking down at her with relief.

"Mom, you're okay!"

"I'm fine, sweetheart," she tried to sound encouraging. "I was just lightheaded is all. I'll be fine."

Bae looked at something towards Belle's feet, which was when she realized her legs were slowly lowering to the floor. It took all her willpower to look away from her precious boy to see the monster who would steal him away, the same man who had held her legs up when she fainted.

"I'll take care of your mother, son," he reassured the child. "We're almost done."

Bae didn't look like he believed this stranger, glaring at him as he sat near his mother's head protectively.

"It'll be alright," she said as she leveraged herself into a sitting position, and Mr. Gold offered his hand to help her to her feet again and then to a chair. "Go upstairs and start your homework and I'll be up to help you soon. I promise."

It was only then that he finally nodded and retreated to the stairs, one last glare leveled at the strange man who had upset his mother.

"He's quite protective of you," Mr. Gold observed solemnly.

"Yes, well it's always just been the two of us here. He's a good boy."

"I don't mean to take him away," he seemed to be trying to reassure her. "I just want to know him. I'd like us to be friends in this, but I will get a court order if I have to."

Belle had a choice then. She could fight to keep her son to herself, but looking at Mr. Gold and his fancy suit and gold tipped cane she would lose. Her days of having her son all her own had come to an end. But perhaps he wouldn't be entirely unreasonable if she went along with it.

"You can come to dinner," she said finally. "Tomorrow. We can tell him the truth then and play it by ear from there."

He smiled at that and she was surprised at how much his face changed when he did so.

"Thank you, Miss French," he said, rising from his seat and shaking her hand. "I promise, I want to know my only child, but it wouldn't be fair to take him away from the only parent he's ever known."

"And it wouldn't be right to keep him from the only blood relative he has," she said with a resigned sigh as she rose to escort him to the door. "As long as you have his best interests at heart, you'll be welcome here."

"Thank you again, Miss French," he said with the same goofy smile on his face he'd had since she agreed to let him come to dinner.

"One more thing, Mr. Gold," she called out and he turned to face her. "If you ever do anything to hurt my child there won't be enough of you found to identify the body."

She swung the door shut with a finality.

It seemed she had to figure out something nice to make for dinner tomorrow, but first she really just needed to see her child.


	2. Chapter 2

**Princesstiannah prompted:**  
"And tomorrow he comes to dinner and they fall in love and get married" isn't good enough, please can you fic the dinner? Maybe an unexpected good night kiss and embarrassed apologies. Pretty please, with a cherry on top x

* * *

She had offered him ___dinner_. Dinner. Well, it wasn't exactly a ___son ____b_ut it was a start. He'd intended to inform her that he would be fighting for custody as he hadn't known the child was his until recently. Then she had fainted and he had caught her and all his plans went to hell.

He didn't know what had summoned Bailey French (___Bae _his mother had called him) to her side, but all of a sudden the boy had been there. He'd been frantic, worried, and begging to know that she would be alright. They had gotten her down on the floor and Gold had elevated her feet and then Bae had sat next to her, eying suspiciously a man who would give his right arm just to hug him and that was when Gold realized that he had already lost his son. No matter what was legal or how much money and effort he threw into it ___now _the boy would always belong to her.

Gold had grown up with no mother and barely a father, he was determined his own son would not suffer that fate.

He'd had no choice, really, if he wanted to know his only child. Dinner it would be.

He prepared for this dinner the way a younger man might have prepared to propose. Everything had to be absolutely perfect from his suit to the wine he was bringing as a gift to Miss French. He'd bought a handheld game system of some sort – the clerk assured him that it was the newest and most expensive and therefore least likely to be owned by a ten year old – for his son. Hopefully, Bae didn't already have one – hopefully, the boy ___liked _video games. Was he even allowed them? Oh God, he didn't know if his son played video games. This was going to be a disaster.

She'd not told him when to arrive, but he thought she might forgive him his eagerness when he arrived on her doorstep at 5:30.

She seemed to have been expecting him, at least. She was wearing a simple yellow sundress and making him realize he was completely overdressed for a family dinner and what on Earth had he been thinking?

"Mr. Gold," she___almost _smiled in greeting when she saw him on her doorstep, but her face quickly settled back into a nervous frown. He couldn't really blame her. This was already the most awkward he'd ever been in his life.

"This is for you," he muttered quickly, shoving the wine at her. "And I got Bae a present...assuming he doesn't have one and you think he'll like it. I'm sorry, I should have called to ask I just..."

"No, no, it's fine" she interrupted him gently after taking his parcel, for which he was intensely grateful as he wasn't sure he could have stopped talking by himself. "I think he'll be thrilled, he's been begging me for one. Please, come in."

She had softened up a little, he noticed as he brushed past her into the house. She seemed like a kind woman, and he had probably evoked some pity with his babbling. He wanted to like her, because he wanted to know his son was taken care of. Honestly, the more time spent in her company the better he felt about Milah having given Bae away.

"Bae," Miss French called up the stairs, "come down and say hello to someone."

There was the thundering sound of a little boy barreling down the steps and landing with a dull thud on the floor next to his mother. He had energy, apparently.

"You remember my friend Mr. Gold from yesterday?" she asked him, petting his hair lovingly.

Bae nodded, glancing suspiciously between his mother and this new man who had upset her so much the day before and Gold felt a tug at his heart. His son had his eyes.

"I brought you something," Gold practically choked out, holding the gift towards his son. "If you'll have it."

Bae inhaled sharply, his entire body tensing as his focus settled on the box being presented to him. Still, though, he looked at his mother pleadingly rather than take it. She nodded encouragingly at his son – their son, he amended, he belonged to both of them. It was only once he received her permission that Bae reached out and clutched the toy as though it were the only thing he'd ever wanted in life.

"What do you say?" Miss French reminded in that tone used by mothers the world over.

"Thank you, Mr. Gold," the child recited flawlessly before looking beseechingly towards his mother. "Can I play with it now?"

"After dinner," she replied. "I'm going to cook now, why don't you keep Mr. Gold company for me, yeah?"

Bae looked stricken at the prospect of being left alone with a stranger, but Belle just smiled at them both, ruffled her son's hair, and exited (presumably) to the kitchen.

The two of them stood alone staring at each other until the silence became awkward. Gold could honestly think of nothing to say that would interest the child. He wanted to know everything about him, but he couldn't even think of where to begin asking. ___Everything _encompassed far, far too much.

"Are you dating my mom?" Bae finally interrupted his thoughts and Gold thought he might drop dead of an aneurysm then and there.

"No I'm actually...I'm not dating your mom," he managed to get out without sputtering too badly, before a different thought occurred to him. "Why? Does she bring boyfriends home often?"

Bae shrugged disinterestedly, his attention now once again focused on his present rather than the man who was apparently not making inroads with his mother.

"You're the first guy she's ever had over."

Gold's eyes shot involuntarily to the kitchen. Objectively, Belle French was a very attractive woman with her shiny hair, porcelain skin, and elfin features. From what he'd seen and his subtle inquiries into her life before approaching them he knew she was well educated, outgoing, and generally liked. The idea of her not dating ___anyone _didn't seem to mesh with his own knowledge of the woman, although perhaps she was just more discreet than Bae's biological mother had been.

He'd been quiet too long again and had completely lost the boy's attention to a list of features on the box of the gaming system.

"Tell you what," Gold said conspiratorially, "why don't you give that a try and let me know how you like it. I'll just pop into the kitchen and see if your mom needs any help."

Bae seemed torn between pointing out that this stranger was in no way an authority figure and the overwhelming desire to play with his new toy.

"I'll tell her I said it was alright," Gold added and Bae didn't question him further, dashing up the stairs faster than Gold would have thought possible. It seemed his son was a natural athlete.

Miss French was stirring something on the stove absentmindedly as she read her phone, but she glanced up at him as he entered.

"So it went well then?" she said with a sympathetic smile.

"I told him he could go play his game," Gold sighed at his own self-defeat and sat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "I had absolutely no idea what to say to him. I want to know everything, but there was so much I just had no idea where to begin."

"He's ten," she said with a smirk. "Asking how school was is a good place to start."

"Does he like school?"

She shrugged.

"About as much as any kid his age. He likes science and history, hates math, and his language arts grades are getting better but he's still having trouble thanks to his dyslexia."

"He's dyslexic?"

"Oh," she seemed to suddenly realize who he was. "I'm sorry, of course you don't know. He was diagnosed a couple years ago. It's not too extreme, but reading and writing are still a bit of a challenge."

"Has he seen a specialist?"

"He has an IEP at school and that gets him extra help."

"Does he ___need _to see a specialist?"

"Specialists are expensive," she said finally. "And he's doing well."

"Miss French," he said as seriously as he could. "___He is my son. _ You're not alone anymore. If he needs something, just tell me and I'll get it for him."

She looked like she was about to argue with him, but shook her head strangely.

"I'm sorry," she replied. "I keep thinking of you as a stranger and not wanting to take advantage. You're right, though. I'm just not used to having anyone to go to about his problems."

"I hope you don't mind me asking this, but you do seem a bit young to have an adopted child his age."

"I'm a little older than I look," she chided. "But honestly? Bae was a complete accident."

"Yes, he has a history of that."

She looked at him in surprise and then broke out laughing. Her entire face changed, and it took her a moment to catch her breath.

"He apparently does," she said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Anyway, I was fresh out of college when my father died and left me his house and his florist. So I was living here alone and my friend Ruby called me one night panic stricken. See, Ruby is a social worker and Bae's mother just showed up at the hospital at 11 o'clock at night and handed the baby over to the triage nurse in the ER and said she didn't want him anymore. So Ruby needed a place for an infant but all her foster families were either full or couldn't be reached for an emergency placement and I was the only person she knew with enough space for a baby. How was I supposed to say no to something like that?"

"And they just let you have him?"

"No, not like that. It was only supposed to be a temporary placement – one night only. So here I am, twenty-three years old, my father has ___just _died and now I have an infant who just will not stop crying. I didn't even have a crib, he only had a carseat and some diapers and formula Ruby brought over and that was it," she paused and he could see she was on the verge of tears at the memory but politely pretended not to notice as she swiped under her eyes before continuing. "I just couldn't get him to stop screaming and finally I couldn't take it anymore, it was four in the morning and I just was exhausted and I broke down and cried. So it was two of us sitting in my living room sobbing uncontrollably. And then finally he just...stopped. He stopped and looked at me and made this gurgling noise and then I wasn't crying because I was alone anymore and neither was he. I just kind of...fell in love."

She smiled shyly, staring down into her pan and checking it for doneness.

"We had some struggles with his birth mom after that, of course," she continued. "Turns out she wasn't quite as done as she thought she was, so that delayed things quite a bit. But in the end it all worked out, and by the time her rights were terminated he was four and had been with me the whole time. By then it was almost no trouble at all to get to keep him."

"Wait, so Milah came back for him?"

"Oh a few times, actually," Belle replied. He could tell this part still bothered her but she was trying very hard to aim for nonchalance. "Her and that boyfriend of hers...Killian something."

"Jones," he supplied. Killian Jones had been his wife's love as well as the reason given for the end of their marriage.

"Right," she said as though the name itself tasted bad. "Killian Jones. About once or twice a year they'd make noise about wanting visitation, then they'd start skipping visits and vanish off the face of the earth again. I was actually a little relieved when they got caught dealing. I know that the ultimate goal of the foster system is supposed to be keeping families together, but I was never in it for the foster system. I was only ever in it for Bae."

"Does he remember her?"

"Bits and pieces. He remembers not liking their visits, but he hasn't seen her since he was four years old. He broke his arm while visiting over there and wasn't allowed unsupervised visitation anymore. That's the last time he saw either of them."

Gold felt his blood pressure rising at the story of Bae being hurt under Jones' care. He'd never liked the man, and the thought of him laying a finger on his child...

"What happened with his arm?" he ground out. If Jones had touched Bae...

"Oh, nothing like that!" Belle exclaimed. "He was playing outside alone and Killian was inside getting high. Bae fell and hurt himself. A neighbor found him and tried to take him home, but nobody was answering the door so she called the police. It...wasn't ideal, but nobody ever laid a finger on him I can promise you that."

She eyed him for a moment, as though sensing he was trying calm himself down and then seemed to make a decision, pulling open a cupboard and removing two wine glasses. She took out a corkscrew, opened the bottle of wine he'd brought and poured both of them a decent sized glass.

"Here," she handed him one. "I think we could both use a drink."

"To co-parenting," he toasted and she smiled and accepted.

"So I answered your questions," she said. "Here's mine. What took you so long?"

"Beg pardon?"

"Why did it take you so long to find us? You're a clever man, Mr. Gold, and you obviously have resources at your disposal. You can't mean to tell me it took you ten years to find him."

"The short answer is that I didn't know to look," he explained. "I knew he was alive, but I assumed he was Jones' - Milah certainly acted like he was."

"I was under that impression as well," she admitted.

"At the time he was born, Milah was still using my address as her billing address for obvious reasons. I kept copies of all her documents during the divorce proceedings just in case. A few months ago I was cleaning out my attic and found the box. When I went through it to check for anything important, I realized that the baby had brown eyes," he paused to see if she would register the meaning of his statement before continuing. "I don't know how much you know about genetics, but Milah's eyes were grey and Jones' were blue. It would be nearly impossible for them to have a child with brown eyes."

"Perhaps she just had another lover?"

"Yes, that's where my mind went as well, but I counted backwards and nine and a half months before his birthday was, well, my birthday."

She laughed so hard at that wine nearly came out her nose.

"Oh God, that burns!" she exclaimed, grabbing a paper towel to cover her sneezes.

That was the moment when he realized he might not mind co-parenting with Belle French as his boy's mother.

"You should call me Arthur, by the way," he said once she had managed to collect herself and refilled both their glasses. "If we're going to both be his parents, you don't need to call me Mr. Gold."

She considered that for a moment.

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "You can call me Belle."


	3. Chapter 3

Dinner was less awkward than Gold had feared, thank God. The addition of Belle to the proceedings was enough to facilitate some conversation between father and unwitting son. Bailey, it turned out, was a charming child, and he had clearly been raised well.

He regretted that he had missed the first ten years of his son's life, and that regret would haunt him until the day he died. But, and this surprised him, he didn't regret that Bailey was raised by Belle. He harbored no illusions about his capability as a parent. His father had been distant and largely uninterested in having a son. Gold had no idea where to even begin to parent a child and the longer he was here the more he understood that. Milah had proven herself completely unfit to the point that the state had stepped in. But Belle, though, was a natural. She was firm with him, insisting on hearing a teacher's side of a homework dispute or refusing to let him claim he wasn't hungry enough to eat his vegetables if he planned on having dessert, but she never veered into being harsh. Their every interaction was colored by an assurance that they loved each other.

The more he watched the intimacy between mother and son — and when exactly had be begun thinking of Belle as the mother of his child, anyway? — the more he both relieved and envious.

"Well then," Belle finally said when the adults were full and Bae had eaten a full serving of vegetables, "who's ready for dessert? I made a cake."

"Cake sounds lovely," Gold said, moving to help her clear the table but she shooed him back to his seat.

"What kind of cake?" Bae asked enthusiastically.

"Strawberry shortcake," was the reply.

The boy was still obviously confused by Gold's presence in his home but had seemed to accept whatever stranger had meant chicken parmesan and strawberry shortcake for dinner.

"So Bae," Gold decided to try his luck with conversation again having had a few glasses of wine over dinner and a little practice now. "How did you like your new game?"

At this the child's eyes lit up.

"It's sooooo cool!" Bae was practically vibrating from excitement in his chair and it was all his father could do not to give everything away then and there. "It's all in 3D so it looks like everything in my Pokedex is holographic!"

Gold had no idea what the hell a Pokedex was, but the boy seemed excited.

"Are there any other games you'd want for it?"

Bae quickly nodded and rattled off a list too fast for anyone to keep up with him.

"Why don't you write that all down for me and I'll see what I can find later, yeah?"

By now, Belle had returned and set plates of cake down at the table.

Bae got a pensive look on his face before facing his mother.

"Okay, what's going on?" Bae said.

"What do you mean?" Belle asked him, even though it was clear that this had gone on as long as it could.

"Yesterday you were so upset after he left, but today he's bringing me presents and we're having cake and it's not even my birthday and you want us to get to know each other but he says he's not your boyfriend. Who is he?"

Belle looked at Gold and took a deep breath, he knew she had to be the one to deliver this news and he felt his heart start to race at the prospect.

"Bae, honey, do you remember the talks we had about your birth mom?"

He nodded, but didn't reply.

"I know you don't remember a lot about her or Killian, but we always assumed that Killian was your birth dad because that's what she said," Belle reached out and took her son's hand comfortingly. "Before you were born, though, your birth mom was married to Mr. Gold and he did some looking into it and we're pretty sure that he's your dad."

Bae's jaw dropped and he looked back and forth incredulously between the two of them, pulling his hand from Belle's and leaping away from the table.

"He can't be my dad, Killian was supposed to be my dad. I don't have a dad anymore!" the boy was becoming hysterical, and while intellectually Gold knew this was the most important piece of information that Bae would ever get it still hurt his heart to be rejected out of hand.

"I know this is a lot to take in, sweetheart," Belle crooned, moving to hold him tight in her arms.

Gold clenched his hand around the handle of his cane so hard his knuckles turned white. He wanted to go to them and to wrap his son in his arms and promise that he'd never leave him again, that there would never be anything to fear ever again because he would always be loved and provided for and protected as long as he lived, but Bae was sobbing into his mother's skirt and he knew he would not be welcome there just yet.

"You won't let him take me away, will you?" the boy sobbed and at that Belle gasped and enveloped the boy tighter in her arms.

"Bae, no! Nobody is going to take you away. That's not something you ever, ever have to worry about," she was smoothing his hair back off his face and kissing his forehead frantically and he was clinging to her.

"I won't leave you again," Bae cried out.

Belle looked apologetically over to Gold as Bae continued to shake and cry before he finally pried himself out of his mother's arms and ran out into the living room. He could hear the sound of footsteps on the stairs indicating that his son had retreated to his room.

"Well that could have gone better," Gold said sardonically.

"Just…stay here," Belle said. "I'll be right back and I'll explain everything."

She rushed out and up the stairs after her son, leaving Gold alone in the dining room feeling more alone than he'd ever felt in his life.

It was close to twenty minutes later that Belle finally returned, leading a much calmer Bae who had clearly been crying for a good portion of the missing time.

"Mr. Gold," she said softly, "Bailey has something he'd like to ask you."

She looked down at the boy in front of her and whispered 'go on' so softly Gold could have imagined it.

"Do I have to call you dad?"

Gold felt relief flood through him at that simple question. She'd somehow done it, she'd gotten him to understand.

"No, Bae," he said as gently as he could manage. "You don't have to call me dad, although I'd certainly like it if someday you did. You can call me whatever you like. You can call me Mr. Gold or Arthur — I'd prefer if you didn't use Artie, though."

He wrinkled his nose at the hated nickname and Bae gave a small laugh at that.

"I think I'm going to call you Arthur," the boy said. "For right now."

"That's alright," he replied. "Whatever makes you comfortable. I'm not trying to replace your mom, I just want to know you. I never knew about you before and I've missed so much."

"Was there something else?" Belle whispered to her son, just loud enough to be audible, and Bae nodded, taking a deep breath and seeming to summon all the bravery he had.

"Do you want to come to my basketball game on Friday?" the boy said. "Afterward mom and I get pizza and ice cream and she said you can come to that, too, if you like."

He saw Belle give Bae's arm a reassuring squeeze, as though congratulating him for doing so well.

"I would like that very much," Gold said, smiling at the boy again from sheer relief.

"Okay," Belle broke in. "Now that that's all settled, how about Bae goes and takes a bath to calm down some and then changes into pajamas and then we have cake? Does that sound good?"

Bae nodded, trotting off up the stairs and leaving the two adults to their conversation.

"I'm sorry about that," Belle sighed. "I should have warned you but I didn't think it would be that bad."

"I had no idea he was so attached to ___Killian_," Gold tried not to let the bitterness he was feeling seep into his voice but it was so damn hard.

"It's more the opposite, actually," Belle sighed. "Before they lost custody the Jones' kept trying to get him back. It was clearly a long time ago, and he did see a therapist when he was little, but he's always had a fear of them taking him away. I'd hoped by having you here when I told him so he could see that it was ___you_ and not Killian he might handle it better. Apparently, I was wrong."

She flopped down into a chair across from him as though completely exhausted.

He poured her another glass of wine wordlessly, splitting the remainder of the bottle between both their glasses.

"Thanks," she said before taking a sip. "You're going to spoil me if you keep bringing good wine for dinner, you know."

"So I'm invited to more dinners? That's comforting."

"Why wouldn't you be?"

He shrugged.

"This one didn't exactly go to plan."

"We both knew this was going to be a rough night going into it. He'll come around."

"Bae said you don't bring men home," he blurted out.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, I don't make a habit of introducing strange men to my son. You're a bit of an outlier."

"No boyfriends?"

"Not that it's any of your business," she muttered. "But I've been a single mother running my own business for the last ten years, both my parents are dead, and I have no local family. Where am I getting the time or babysitters to go on dates with these hypothetical men?"

"So you don't date?"

"I've been on a few since he came around," she shrugged. "But unless you count he time his therapist came to dinner or the home observations with his caseworker this is the closest thing I've been on to a date in the last couple years. What about you, though? Ten years is a long time to wait to remarry."

"Who said I was going to remarry?"

She snorted incredulously.

"Whatever you say."

"So this is the closest thing to a date you've been on?" He changed the subject, not comfortable at all with the direction this conversation was moving in. "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"Well, it's involved a bit more yelling and crying than I usually prefer but overall it's been a nice evening, you have to admit."

He was forced to concede that point.

"Dinner was excellent," he added for her. "And the company, of course. The wine was surprisingly good as well, which may account for the ease of company."

She chuckled at that and clinked her glass to his before taking another sip of her drink.

He met her mirth-filled eyes and they both seemed to realize the direction the conversation had taken at the same time. A jolt of recognition went through him that the look in her eyes wasn't amused anymore, and it wasn't strictly platonic or co-parenting. He recognized in her the same need to connect that he felt.

He didn't know if it were the wine, or attraction, or the fact that they were both apparently lonely — he didn't even know who made the first move. He just knew that a split second later her lips were pressed against his and his hand had come up to touch her hair.

It only lasted a few heartbeats, but the moment passed as suddenly as it had begun.

"Oh," she said softly, pulling away from him. "That was a really dumb idea."

He was too shocked that she'd kissed him to even agree, instead nodding along mutely. Whatever else they were, they were not lovers. They were strangers thrown together by circumstance who now had to share the same child. Adding any stronger feelings to their situation could only hurt Bae in the long run, and neither one of them was willing to do that.

He was spared having to attempt to continue a conversation with her by the reappearance of his son, dark curls plastered to his head with water and clothed in a cotton T-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants with little cartoon monkeys all over them.

It was a charmingly domestic scene as the three of them sat and ate their cake. Bae answered any question given to him and supplied some of his own, seemingly genuinely interested in this man who was apparently going to be in his life from now on. Belle offered gentle encouragement when necessary, but otherwise seemed more than happy for the two to simply sit and become acquainted with each other.

It wasn't until late that night when he had returned to his empty home that he realized that the two of them were the only family that he really wanted to have.


	4. Chapter 4

**anonymousnerdgirl prompted:**

Adopted!verse: Bae's interests tend to the athletics but Gold can't play with him because of his limp. Belle tries to help them find a way to connect.

* * *

He was trying, Belle had to give him that. Arthur Gold had shown up to the basketball game – dressed in another one of his expensive suits, bless him – and sat to watch a group of ten and eleven year old boys run up and down a court in a poorly ventilated rec center. He'd even clapped when she had, though she strongly suspected he was mostly just following her lead. He didn't strike her as the basketball type, exactly.  
They had both been a little uncomfortable at first with answering questions as to who he was to Bae, but Belle had decided early on not to provide too many details. If he wanted to explain the situation to more people, he was welcome to do so, but anyone who approached her asking who he was simply informed that he was Bailey's birth dad and left at that. No muss, no fuss, and soon enough they were left to the game and each other's company.  
"You know, the coach has a crush on you," he whispered into her ear after halftime.  
"Who, Michael?"  
Michael Tillman was Bae's coach and a single parent himself. He was a widower with twins named Ava and Nicholas who were Bae's age.  
He'd also been the first one to come up and introduce himself to the stranger who had accompanied Belle to the game this week.  
"Yes, Michael," Gold said with a smirk. "He keeps eying me to see if I'm competition, and to make sure you're looking his way."  
"That's ridiculous," she replied. But she knew he was right. Michael was constantly inviting Belle and Bae over for playdates and had asked her to coffee once.  
"So you've never considered it?"  
She looked at him sidelong, trying to gauge what he was really asking her.  
"He's Bae's coach," she shrugged finally. "Bailey loves basketball and Michael is good with him. That's all."  
She saw him wince a little, but pretended like she hadn't. She was becoming far too friendly with Arthur since he'd walked into her life with nothing but a birth certificate to recommend him earlier this week. At least he seemed just as disinclined to mention her kissing him as she was. That had been a lapse in judgment she'd not anticipated making, and didn't plan on making again.  
"So what else does Bae like?"  
It was said almost too casually, but there was a subtle note of longing in it that caught her attention fully.  
"He likes a lot of things. He's into sports, mostly. But also video games, superheroes, LEGO, toys that shoot things, Jedi...he has a weird fondness for magic tricks."  
She shrugged and he turned to face her.  
"Magic tricks?"  
"Yeah, I don't know where that came from," she replied. "He's ten, he likes ten year old boy things."  
"You'll have to forgive me, but I've not spent much time around ten year old boys since I was one."  
"Well, what do you do?"  
"I own an antique shop," he explained. "And I live alone. I go to work, I come home. That's about it, really. Well, now I go to your house as well and apparently also to children's basketball games. I don't have many hobbies."  
"Aww," Belle gave his arm a quick sympathetic squeeze. "Bae's a sweet kid, honestly. And he really, really wants to like you. This is a great start."  
"I'm the oldest father here," he grumbled under his breath.  
"Oh that's not true," she said, glancing around. "Well, maybe. But not by much. And I'm the youngest parent here, so it balances out. How old are you, anyway?"  
"Forty-eight," he muttered, glancing around.  
"That's not too old for this crowd," she replied. "Most of them are in their late thirties or early forties. You'll be fine."  
"Everyone is looking at me."  
"You're new and a little overdressed," she reminded him. "And they're curious about why there's a new man in my life, they all knew my situation."  
"You really think I'm overdressed?"  
"You're wearing a suit to a basketball game, perhaps a touch."  
"What should I wear next time?"  
It was kind of adorable how clueless he was, but Belle was determined not to let him think she was mocking him. She considered his question, trying to picture him in jeans and a t-shirt like the other dads before quickly disregarding it. Something about Arthur called for something a little bit more formal.  
"Take your jacket off, for one thing," she finally said. "And the tie."  
He nodded and did as instructed, folding both nicely before laying them in his lap.  
"Okay, now unbutton your top two buttons and roll up your sleeves," she took in the effect. "Better make it three buttons."  
The result was an instant improvement, he now looked like he'd just come from work rather than like he expected a meeting to break out in the middle of the game.  
"I feel ridiculous," he muttered.  
"But you look exactly like everyone else," she reminded him. "Next time you can wear khakis and a polo shirt, or khakis and one of your dress shirts. Just not a white one, I know you have other colors. I've seen them on you."  
"Why Belle, I didn't know you cared," he feigned embarrassment, pressing a hand to his chest.  
She rolled her eyes at him and he quickly returned to their companionable silence as they watched the game.  
He really was trying, and she could respect him for that.

Gold was pretty sure this was the most awkward he'd felt since high school. He'd hoped that leaving the game would help relax him, but "pizza and ice cream afterward" had turned out to be a team event where Bae spent any moment he wasn't actively putting food into his mouth running around with other kids and begging his mother for quarters to put into an old Street Fighter II machine near the entrance.  
Belle spent most of the time at their table, but the other mothers occasionally came around to scope him out and ask her subtle questions. And finally the basketball coach – Michael, Belle had called him – had come over and asked to speak to her privately at which point she'd excused herself to go stand somewhere else with him and talk in low tones.  
Gold didn't begrudge Belle having a man interested in her, not at all. Their relationship was friendly but they were barely friends despite the unfortunate and wine-fueled kiss of the other night. And frankly, Michael had been there first. If anything, Gold was the interloper.  
He just really wished he had anything to do but sit at a table, pick at rapidly cooling pizza, and watch his son playing. He was so intent on staring at Bae that he honestly didn't even notice Belle coming back over and reclaiming her original seat across from him in the booth.  
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked, pulling a piece of pepperoni off her slice and popping it in her mouth.  
"No, not really," he sighed.  
"I know this hasn't been easy for you today," she continued. "I do. Thank you for coming though, I know this isn't really your thing."  
"It's not that," he replied. "It's just...I can't do this stuff."  
He nodded towards his cane and saw the flash of recognition in her eyes, and then the sympathy. The sympathy he'd hoped to avoid.  
"I get along fine in life," he added. "I just can't be this kind of dad."  
"He doesn't need 'this kind' of dad," she said, reaching a hand out to place comfortingly on one of his. "He's got you. We just need to find things you can do together."  
"I know nothing about video games, I certainly don't know any magic tricks, and as for Jedi I haven't seen the movies since the '80s," he was pitying himself now, but she had provided a sympathetic ear so she could hardly begrudge him when the truth came out. "That really cuts down on our options."  
"How late can you stay up at night?" she said, a smile flashing across her face.  
"Beg pardon?"  
"You heard me. Think you can be awake enough to drive at 3:30?"  
"I...probably," he didn't sleep much usually anyway. "But I hardly see..."  
"Bailey!" she yelled across the pizza place, gesturing for the boy to come over before she leaned over to Gold to whisper "just trust me."  
"What's up, mom?" Bae was exuberant from the combination of simple carbohydrates and being near his friends and Gold found himself similarly on edge waiting to see what Belle had up her sleeve. He didn't want the child to feel obligated to spend time with him, after all.  
"So your dad and I were talking," she nodded towards Gold on the word 'dad' and it squeezed his heart just a little every time she included him in the unit of their family. "You know how there's the new Spider-Man movie coming out next weekend?"  
"Yeah..." the boy was looking between the two of them now anxiously.  
"How would you like to go see it with your dad on opening night at midnight?"  
"Wait, Thursday night instead of Friday?" Bae was practically bouncing now.  
"Yup," she nodded and Gold felt himself begin to smile as he saw the sheer joy that was coursing through Bailey's body.  
"Oh my God this is so cool!" Bae exclaimed. "You never let me go on Thursday nights! But wait, what about school the next day?"  
"I think you can take one day off, don't you Arthur?" she winked at Gold then and he nodded dumbly in agreement.  
If he'd thought Bae was excited before, the moment he heard 'no school' the child threw himself at his mother who giggled, but pried him off.  
"Thank your dad, not me," she scolded him with a laugh.  
"Thank you so much, Dad!" Bae chirped, tackling Gold in a hug so tight he wasn't sure how either were breathing, but he still had the presence of mind to hug the boy before Bae tore himself out of his arms. "I have to go tell Nick! He's going to be so jealous!"  
The boy bounded off to rejoin his friends who greeted him with some combination of jealousy and excitement.  
"You're welcome," Belle said smugly. "You just became the cool dad."  
"It seems you're far more cunning than I gave you credit for," he replied, wishing the grin on his face would go away.  
"Did you notice, though?"  
"What?"  
"He called you 'Dad.'"  
The grin got wider, but this time he couldn't bring himself to care.


	5. Chapter 5

**anonymousnerdgirl said:**

Adoption!verse: Gold decides to investigate the Jones's treatment of Bae. Reading the reports of their neglect prompts him to smash glass with his cane and remember his own childhood.

**whiteorangeflower said:**

Your adoption verse has captured me. May I prompt you something? The first time Gold teaches something to his son or the two going to see something together. thank you!

* * *

Gold had asked Belle about Bae's past because he'd wanted to know, and she'd given him their CPS reports because he'd asked her to. He just wasn't sure he wanted to have them. The problem, though, was that honestly he didn't ___want _to know what they'd done to Bae – Milah had been irresponsible, and Jones had been even worse. He needed to know, but the idea of his son suffering at their hands set his teeth on edge.

Still, if Bae had been able to live through it then he could read it. And so, after one of his near-daily meals at their house and the night before the promised Spider-man trip, he returned to his lonely house, poured himself a scotch, and pulled out the file he'd been keeping on his desk.

It was mostly social worker reports, but Belle had apparently documented every single interaction she'd had with them as well and those had been included. It was a case study in two people who were not ready for parenthood but decided they wanted a child anyway.

Milah had first decided she wanted Bae back at three months old. She was granted unsupervised weekend access to the boy. After just a few visits, though, Belle began reporting nasty cases of diaper rash that appeared every time he returned from his mother's house. She was able to find a doctor to agree with her assessment that his diapers weren't being changed frequently enough, and a surprise visit from CPS had found the baby left crying in his crib for long periods of time. Gold thought he might be sick.

He would never hold his son. Bae was too large now to be picked up with one arm and Gold wouldn't be able to support both their weights on his bad leg anyway. The idea that Milah and Jones had the opportunity to hold him as a baby but had instead left him alone and suffering enraged Gold.

That had been the end of Milah's unsupervised visits for awhile, at least. She eventually grew tired of spending Saturdays with a social worker watching her with her son and stopped showing up to the supervised ones. He'd have thought that would be it, but apparently not. The pattern repeated over and over again between the ages of eighteen months and four years old. At least once or twice a year, Milah would try to regain custody only to balk at the supervised visitation and eventually stop showing up.

Frankly, by the time he got to the portion dealing with Bae's final unsupervised visit with his mother he was just about ready to burn the whole damn system down and start over. Who the hell had decided that a woman who couldn't even show up for her supervised visits deserved another chance at having unsupervised access to a child? If she hadn't been convicted for drug use after he broke his arm, how many more chances would she have been given with the boy? Would they even have let Belle keep him or just sent him back to Milah once he was old enough to fend for himself? The thought of Milah raising the boy instead of Belle was enough to make him physically ill.

Gold finally set the file aside, rising to his feet and pacing angrily through the room. He needed to burn off some of his nervous energy, and the way his leg ached from the activity was a welcome reprieve from the direction of his thoughts. He'd not been able to save his son. Bae had been abandoned and neglected and ___he____hadn't been there_.

He had always wanted to do better than his father. Malcolm Gold had been in and out of his son's life with all the regularity of a tornado, leaving a similar amount of destruction in his wake. Arthur had been left with his aunts until Malcolm's urge to parent suddenly became overwhelming, and then he would skip out again as soon as the boy became onerous. Bailey had been subjected to the same fate by his mother. It just wasn't ___fair. _Bae didn't deserve that. All Gold had ever wanted was to be a father, and yet where had he been while Bae had been suffering at Milah's hands? Running his shop, licking his wounds, and stagnating in luxury.

Belle had been there, at least. Belle, who'd had no claim on the child beyond being a young woman who was awake late at night and had a house had been the one to cherish his son and teach him he was loved and to give him everything. It just wasn't fair!

He grabbed his glass off the end table and threw it against a wall. The glass fell to the floor with a tinkling sound and the wanton destruction soothed him in its chaos. A decorative glass paperweight and a figurine of a shepherd soon followed the glass.

He was breathing heavily more from the adrenaline than from the activity by the time he had finished. He collapsed to the floor and broke down into tears, shaking with the need to go back in time and hold this child who had long since ceased to need to be rescued, and who he had never been able to save.

He was still a little shaken up by the next evening, and the nap he'd taken after work only helped a little bit. By the time he arrived to pick Bae up (wearing khakis and a blue shirt at Belle's suggestion) he really just wanted to hold the boy until the uncontrollable urge to destroy the world passed. He thought that might frighten Bae, though. That this would be the first time he would ever be alone with his son for more than a few minutes did not really help his nerves.

Belle greeted him warmly before calling for Bae that his father was here and he'd better hurry up if he wanted to see the movie.

"So what's the plan for the night?" she asked as they stood in the entryway waiting for Bae to come down.

"Well, I thought we'd get a snack before the movie and then go get in line."

He already had the tickets purchased, but he'd been informed that queuing up to get into the theater was the fun part, and anyway it would provide him a little bit of extra time with his son.

"That sounds good," she nodded. "You can feed him whatever you want short of coffee. Soda, popcorn, candy...whatever. I figure it's more important that you guys bond than it is to maintain his diet for awhile. I'd just prefer he not develop a taste for coffee while bedtime is still an issue."

He nodded. She really was trying to make things easier for him, which he couldn't help but appreciate. This entire situation had the potential to be unbelievably difficult but she was going out of her way to make it easier for him. It occurred to him not for the first time that Bae had gotten very lucky in winding up with Belle.

"I uh," he began. "I read the file."

"Oh," she breathed. "Did you have any questions?"

He shook his head.

"Still taking it all in."

"Well, the offer stands," she replied just as Bailey bounced down the stairs to stand next to her.

"Hey, Bailey!" Gold said, unable to suppress the smile that spontaneously bloomed whenever his son was in the room.

"You ready to go?" she chirped, ruffling Bae's hair affectionately.

"Yeah," Bae exclaimed. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Bae was in a Spider-man t-shirt and jeans and looked almost as excited as his father felt, albeit for a slightly different reason.

"Alright," Belle said cheerfully, grabbing a coat off the rack and handing it to their son. "Looks like you two are ready to go. Bae, be nice to your dad, okay?"

"Yes, mom," he said with a put-upon sigh before looking up at his father.

"I think we'll be okay," Gold added. "What are you going to do tonight?"

"Oh I have a thrilling night planned," she said with a smirk. "I am going to watch literally whatever I want on TV and go to sleep without worrying about Bailey trying to stay up to play video games. I may even have some wine."

"Living the high life, I see."

Bae gave a guilty grin at his inclusion in their joke, but seemed to enjoy the banter as they walked towards the car.

"Well," she said cheerfully. "I'll try not to party too hard. You boys have fun!"

And just like that, Gold was left alone with his son.

"This is going to be the latest I've ever been awake," Bae supplied as he climbed into the car.

"Well, I'm glad to take you to the movie."

"I think it'll be fun," Bae said cheerfully. "It'll be good to get to know you."

Gold chuckled at Bae's earnest proclamation.

"I couldn't agree more," he replied.

He drove his son to a diner, ordering chocolate milkshakes and an order of fries.

"So your mom tells me you like school," Gold probed, deciding to try Belle's advice for conversation topics.

"Yeah," Bae said. "It's not bad..."

He started swirling his milkshake around with a straw and avoiding eye contact.

"When I was your age," Gold confided, "I had a really hard time with school."

Bae perked up a little, eying Gold cautiously.

"Really?"

"Yes," he tried to keep a straight face. "I had a really hard time with math, for one thing. I could write well and I liked to read, but I also had a really hard time remembering things sometimes."

"Mom was so good at school," Bae said in a rush. "Like, everything. She loved it and I don't hate school or anything it's just not as easy for me as it was for her and I have to work at it all the time and next year is my last year before middle school and that's supposed to be even harder and I just don't know if I can keep up..."

Now that he'd gotten it all out, Bae seemed to deflate a little bit against the booth. Gold was shocked that he'd been chosen to hear this exclamation and wondered how long Bae had been holding this in. This was really his first opportunity to parent his child, which was a little bit more intimidating than he'd anticipated.

"Your mom told me you're having trouble with your dyslexia," he said sympathetically, looking at Bae who was still focused entirely on the plate of french fries in front of him.

Bae just nodded, picking at his food.

"Why don't you let me talk to your mom about seeing if there's anyone in the area who might be able to give you a little extra help?"

Bae glanced up hopefully, but a little wary.

"I already have an extra class at school."

"Well, there are lots of different people we can talk to," Gold continued. "Some of them are kind of expensive, which is why your mom never took you to see any of them. But I can pay for it."

"And you think that would help?"

"It can't hurt, and if you don't like it you don't have to keep going."

"You'd really do that for me?"

Gold felt his heart shatter into a million little pieces at the innocent question. He would do anything for Bae. He would die for Bae, he'd cut off his right arm for his son no questions asked. Paying for a specialist didn't even count as a hardship.

"I'm your dad, Bae," he finally said. "Anything you need I'll get for you. You don't need to worry about that."

Bae considered this for a little while before looking back at Gold.

"I'm glad you found me," he said at last.

Bae had passed out in the car on the way home from the movie. It was the first time Gold had ever seen his son asleep, he realized. The movie had been surprisingly good, and Gold was pretty sure he was going to buy Bae every single Spider-man toy at the store for his birthday just to hold onto the memory as long as he could.

He called Belle from the drive way to wake her up so she could let them in, but neither had really planned for Bae to be asleep. He hated to force her to come outside in her nightclothes, but he also hated to wake up his son when he looked so peaceful (and, frankly, was out like a light).

Gold considered the little boy in the backseat for a minute before arriving at a decision. When he saw the look on Belle's face when he stood at her door a little while later with his son slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes he had to give her credit for not laughing too hard.

"Are you alright?" she said through an amused smirk.

"Yeah, fine," he got out. "I just need to get him up the stairs."

"Sure, of course," she let him in and took his arm, letting him lean on her as they made their way up the stairs and to Bae's room incredibly slowly.

It wasn't the most comfortable arrangement, and he knew his leg would be killing him the next day, but Gold couldn't regret this one chance to carry Bailey while it was still possible. He would probably never do this again.

By the time they got the boy into bed and Belle took his shoes off and tucked him in with his clothes on, Bae had stirred just a bit.

"Mom?"

"Go back to sleep," she whispered, kissing him on the head.

"I had a really good time with Dad," he mumbled, rolling over and pulling the sheets up to his chin.

"That's great, sweetie," she said. "You can tell me all about it tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Mom," he said through a yawn. "Goodnight, Dad."

Belle smiled as she pulled Gold through the door to the hallway.

"I don't think I'm going to see him again before noon," Belle said with a relaxed smile. "And I already had my assistant manager scheduled to work the shop tomorrow. It will be the most sleep I've had in ten years."

"I'm happy I could help," Gold replied, still a little dumbstruck by Bae's casual acceptance of him in his room and in his family.

"What about you? Are you opening tomorrow?"

"No, I think not. I can take a long weekend."

"Well, you're welcome to swing by for lunch," she offered. "You know, if you want."

"Why don't you two come over to my house instead?" he replied. "You cook all the time. You should take the day off."

"Yeah," she replied. "That sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow for lunch at your place. I'll text you when he wakes up"

By the time he was at home and safely ensconced in his bed, Gold found sleep to be beyond him in his excitement. He'd gotten to hold his son.

He should offer Bailey a bedroom at his house, he decided. There was no sense in waking Belle up every time they went to a movie (and he really hoped this wouldn't be the last time). He could decorate it however he liked. He'd ask Belle tomorrow, and if she thought it was a good idea...his son would have a room at his house.

He was finally getting a chance to be a dad.


	6. Chapter 6

**accio-firewhiskey said:**

Mr. Gold babysits Bae the night Belle has a date

**Anonymous said:**

I have a couple of adoption!verse prompts, if they will fit somewhere: 1) Belle, Bae, and Gold watch tv (or play a game, some family activity) together, and Gold is the one who ends up getting sleepy Bae snuggles when it's past bedtime. 2) Bae talks to Gold about what he remembers about Milah and Killian.

**accio-firewhiskey said:**

Bae wants know about his birth mother

* * *

"It's not too late to cancel," Belle insisted for probably the third time since Gold had arrived. "Really, it's not a big deal. We can just have a family night!"

"You're supposed to be at the restaurant in twenty minutes," Gold reminded her. "It is far too late to cancel."

Belle grimaced again. It was actually a little funny how clearly nervous she was about her first real date in three years. Apparently, Michael Tillman hadn't wasted any time between learning that Belle may be able to acquire free childcare and asking her out. Gold thought he should probably be jealous that the mother of his son (who, he really had to remember, he had kissed once) was going out on a date. However, all he managed to be was thrilled that he was going to spend the entire evening alone with Bae even if it was at his mother's house.

"Mom, it'll be fine," Bae said in what Gold was beginning to recognize as his 'grown-up' voice. "You like Mr. Tillman, and I've been alone with Dad before!"

She whimpered and glanced back and forth between them nervously.

"You look lovely," Gold offered with a shrug. "It'd be a shame to waste it on the likes of us, right Bae?"

Bailey smiled up at his father and then back to his mother, who was glaring as best she could at both of them.

"Alright, you guys win," she replied. "I'll be home probably around ten. Have a good time you two."

Gold almost laughed at how surly she sounded at the prospect of going out for dinner with a nice man whom she got along with. He wondered (although not for the first time) if perhaps Bae hadn't just provided a convenient excuse for her lackluster social life rather than being the cause of it.

"Have a nice night!" he called after her as she stalked to her car.

Once she was out of the driveway and down the street, Bae turned to face him.

"I thought she'd never leave," the boy sighed wearily.

"Well, she did," Gold ruffled his son's hair. "Now, how should we celebrate boy's night?"

Gold was forced to concede that Belle had been right on insisting that he watch Bae at her house and not his. Even though Bae now had a bedroom at his house (and an incredibly well decorated one at that), Belle's was still more properly set up for entertaining a child for long periods of time. A very patient Bae had already taught his father how to play Mario Kart (poorly) and they were now taking an ice cream break before the movie marathon. Gold was, apparently, in dire need of watching the Avengers movies. He doubted they'd get more than one or two in before Bae fell asleep, but liked the idea of having plans for the future.

"Hey Dad?" Bae said suddenly and Gold tried to ignore the way his heart jumped every time he heard the word _dad_ pass his son's lips.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Gold said, setting down his spoon to give Bae his complete focus.

"What was my birth mom like?"

Of all the questions Bae could have asked, this was the last one Gold had anticipated.

"Why do you ask, son?" he managed to force out around the lump that had spontaneously formed in his throat.

Bae shrugged, stirring the chocolate sauce into his remaining ice cream.

"I don't really remember her that much, and mom doesn't like to talk about it. But...you knew her before. I was just wondering..."

"Wondering what?"

"Why she didn't want me."

"Oh, Bae," Gold moved around the table to put his arm around his son. "It wasn't about wanting you."

Bae nodded, obviously close to tears and not willing to let his father see. Gold decided to take a different tack.

"What do you remember about her?" he asked.

"Not a lot. I remember she was pretty, but she acted weird when I was there. I remember Killian more than her."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, he was always home with me. My birth mom went out a lot."

"Your birth mom..." Gold was searching for words to tell his son about Milah without hurting him worse, but also without giving him the desire to know her again. "She was very sick, son."

Bae nodded and looked up at him hopefully.

"She made some bad choices in her life," he continued. "By the time you came along, I think things had gotten out of control. She and Killian brought out the worst parts of each other and you got caught in the middle of that."

"I wish I knew what she looked like," Bae was doing little more than whispering now. "I used to, but now..."

"Now what?"

"Now whenever I try to imagine what she looked like, I just remember Mom."

"Well, that's understandable." Gold said slowly. "Honestly, your mom and your birth mom have similar coloring. Your mom's hair is a little lighter and her eyes are bluer, but they look similar. And your birth mom was a lot taller."

Bae smiled a little and tucked himself under Gold's arm.

"If you'd like, I could probably dig out some old pictures of her," Gold said. "Next time you come over I'll show you some."

"I'd like that," Bae said finally. "But don't tell Mom, she doesn't like talking about my birth mom and Killian."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I think your mom is just worried it'll upset you to talk about it," Gold explained. "I know you don't remember much, but she knew a lot of things about them that you didn't."

Bae seemed to accept this, and Gold wondered how much of his past Bae was aware of. The boy was clearly troubled, but Gold didn't want to push too much or ask for anything he wasn't comfortable revealing. He made a mental note to mention this to Belle later, she'd mentioned that Bae had been in therapy to help with his separation anxiety before. Maybe he should start that again.

"So I think it's time for us to get started with _Thor_, yeah?" Gold finally said.

Bae cheered up at the mention of the Norse god and retreated to the living room to set up the DVD player, leaving his father to clean up the now melted ice cream and put a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"Hey guys, I'm home!" Belle called out as she walked in the door. She was promptly shushed by the father and son seated on the sofa staring at her television. "It's nice to see you guys, too."

Bae was completely absorbed in the adventures of Captain America, but Gold at least had the good grace to look a little embarrassed and offer her a smile.

"So how was your date?" he asked as Belle kicked her shoes off and came around to sit on the other side of Bae.

"It was fine," she said with a shrug. "How was boy's night?"

"Apparently," Gold said over Bae's indignant shushing, "Bucky Barnes looks a lot like one of your neighbors."

"He really does," Belle agreed. "His daughter goes to Bae's school. Honestly, it took me by surprise the first time I saw him."

Bae shushed again and Belle finally settled in to watch the film with them, stealing popcorn out of a bowl in Bae's lap.

It wasn't overly surprising when Bae fell asleep before Bucky's tragic demise, but what was surprising was that he had curled up burrowed under his father's arm. Belle couldn't help but smile uncontrollably at the incredulous look on Gold's face as he stared at the child pressed against his side.

"So I take it you two had a good night?" she finally asked him. She'd been a little distracted all night worrying about them even though she knew that Bae was safe with his father.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm sorry your date didn't go well."

"Who said it didn't go well?"

"If it went well, you wouldn't have come home at a quarter to ten," he pointed out.

"Good point," she sighed. "I don't know why I said yes to him," she admitted. "I think it was just because we should get along so well."

"How so?"

"I've known him for a few years, Bae likes him, he's got kids around the same age..." she replied with a shrug. "And he's been asking for awhile and there wasn't a reason to say no anymore."

"Ah," he looked back at the screen before elaborating. "He seemed like the kind of man you should be dating?"

"Exactly. I just don't think that's good enough, you know? I shouldn't be out at dinner with a man and be wishing I was at home watching Iron Man for the twelfth time with my son and his father."

"In Michael's defense, it was a good movie."

She threw a piece of popcorn at him and was rewarded with a smile.

"Look at who's a superhero fan now," she teased. "Before long I'll have you taking him to all the premieres."

"He's already gotten me to agree to it so don't bother."

"He's pretty good at that."

"He asked about Milah, by the way," his voice had taken on a serious quality now, a far cry from their earlier banter. "I thought you should know."

"Yeah? What did he want to know?"

"He doesn't remember what she looks like, and he was wondering why she didn't want him."

"Oh," her heart broke for her son and she had to fight the sudden urge to wake him up and reassure him that he had always, _always_ been wanted. "What did you tell him?"

"I said I'd show him pictures of her if he wanted to see them, and that she was in a bad place when he was born."

"That's good," she nodded reassuringly. Nobody had ever warned her it would be this hard, or if they had she hadn't believed them. "Maybe it's time he went back to see Dr. Hopper, it has been a lot to adjust to the last couple months."

"Maybe," he agreed, pulling Bae a little closer. "I can help pay for it, if you'd like."

"We'll see," she said. She knew he liked paying for Bae because it made him feel more a part of his life, but she was still a little uncomfortable taking his money.

Belle sighed again, leaning over Bae. She had to put her head half on Arthur's shoulder to lean against her son, but he didn't seem to mind overmuch. It was nice for just that moment to pretend to be a real family where these questions of biology and finance never arose and everyone knew exactly where they stood with each other.

If only.


	7. Chapter 7

**tinuviel-undomiel said:**

Belle's Adopted Son verse, it's Father's Day and Gold realizes he knows nothing about his son so Belle shows him all of her photo albums if Bae since he was a baby.

**endangeredslug said:**

Adoption prompt: Belle puts together a scrapbook of Bae's childhood as a gift for Mr. Gold.

**anonymousnerdgirl said:**

Adoption!verse: Bae stays the night at Gold's. Belle and Gold freak out so much they spend the entire night on the phone waiting for something to go wrong- the fact that they enjoy talking to each other has absolutely nothing to do with it.

* * *

They had an arrangement about holidays. When Mother's Day had hit them just a little too early on in this tentative new co-parenting relationship for comfort, Belle and Arthur had sat down and cobbled together an agreement as to how to handle holidays. Mothers Day, Fathers Day, and birthdays would be spent at the home of the respective parent. Other holidays and Bae's birthday would be alternated by year, and the entire family would spend the day of the holiday together at the appropriate house. Gifts were only exchanged between Bae and his parents (although assisting him with selecting a present for the other parent was okay). It wasn't romantic, but it was practical and worked well enough, and Belle would have been lying if she'd pretended like it hadn't been really nice to get a surprise on Mother's Day that didn't involve a seven-year-old trying to make pancakes in the kitchen (which, granted,n had been surprising) even if it had just been a hand-painted birdhouse from the craft store and a box of chocolates.

But now, it was June. Father's Day was coming up, Bae was going to be with his father for the entire weekend, and Belle was coming dangerously close to a panic attack the closer it got to time for him to leave. Sure, Arthur Gold only lived about a fifteen minute drive away in good traffic, and sure Bae had slept over there on a few occasions already. The thing is, he'd never been away from home for more than one night at a time before, and he'd only stayed over at his father's house after a nighttime outing so Belle wouldn't have to wake up at odd hours to let them in. This was the first time Arthur would be responsible for meals and bedtimes and making sure he brushed his teeth and washed his hair.

"You know," Arthur said as Belle double and triple checked Bae's suitcase for necessities, "I do live on my own. I'm fairly certain I can handle not starving him to death for two nights."

She just glared at him and sent Bae upstairs to get his comb from where he'd left it on the bathroom sink.

"Honestly, Belle, you're worrying too much. If he forgets something I'll either drive back and get it or go buy a replacement."

"I know," she admitted with a sigh. "He's just never been away so long."

"We'll be fine," he reassured her. "And if I need anything, I have your phone number. Just try to relax and we'll see you on Sunday."

Belle was spared a reply by Bae bounding downstairs, comb in hand and a triumphant look on his face.

"Alright," she said, kissing her son on the forehead. "I'll be by Sunday for lunch to get you. Be good for your dad and if you need me, you've both got my number."

"What are you going to do while I'm gone?" Bae asked.

"Oh, you know," she teased. "Grown-up things."

The truth was, she had no special plans. If she were seeing anyone, she could have had her own sleepover, but she wasn't. Aside from the one date, Michael Tillman had gone nowhere. Not that she was disappointed about that, she'd not really been very interested in him if she were being honest with herself. Still, though, it had been a very long time since she had been interested in anyone, and she was beginning to realize that she really missed having a man in her life especially now that Bae didn't need her as much as he had before.

"Well, let's leave your mother to her grown-up things," Arthur said with a wink as he herded Bae out the door towards his car.

"I'll see you Sunday," she said one last time, receiving a nod of acknowledgment before he walked out after their son. "Call me if you have any questions!" she called after them both. Arthur waved, but otherwise seemed intensely focused on getting the boy into the car and buckled in.

And Belle was all alone.

Belle was curled up on the sofa with a bottle of wine and a romance novel when her phone buzzed with a text notification.

_Question – grilled cheese okay for dinner or need vegetable?_

She let out a very unladylike snort of laughter before sending off her reply.

_Try tomato soup, he'll eat that. Also put tomato slices in sandwich._

A moment passed before the phone buzzed again.

_Okay thanks. Thought he might be trying to pull one over on me._

She giggled before replying,

_No problem, lemme know if he tries anything else._

Belle next heard the phone buzz while she was taking a bubble bath. It was close to bedtime for Bae, and she was having a hard time adjusting to not needing to do anything to put him to sleep. She practically lunged for the phone out of pure loneliness, but couldn't help but smile at the three words she saw there.

_Shower before bedtime?_

She could just imagine the conversation that had led to that message being sent, and quickly shot off her reply.

_Yes, and say you're going to smell his hair afterward to make sure he washed it or else he'll just stand under the water and not actually use soap._

She wished she was there, she realized. She wanted to be a part of the family unit and have these arguments, too. Was this how Arthur felt all the time, or was he used to it? And which was the sadder thought?

Her phone buzzed again.

_He's in the shower. Okay to call you?_

She briefly thought about getting out of the tub, but decided against it. They were adults and there was no reason to cut her own bath short on what was supposed to be her day off from motherhood.

_Sure._

This time, the phone rang instead of buzzing. Belle accepted the call, pressing the phone to her cheek.

"Hello?"

"Hey," she could hear the tired smile in his voice. "You did not warn me that he's a sneaky little devil."

"He'll wear you out, yeah," she replied. "Aside from the texts is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we had a short argument about whether or not bedtime meant lights out or whether he could stay up as long as he was in bed. No need to worry, I won that one."

"That's good to know," she giggled. "I'd hate to think you got outwitted by an elementary school student."

"Don't fret, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve he doesn't know. So how was your day?"

"Dull," she admitted. "I mostly read, and drank a bottle of wine. And now I'm taking a bath. It's been a long night."

"Sounds indulgent, at least."

"That's true," she conceded. "It's been nice to have some time off at least, but it's so quiet. It's just weird without anyone here."

"He's stayed over before," Arthur pointed out.

"That was different. Those times were more like a sleepover, this..."

"It is different," he agreed. "It's the first time I've ever really had to be a parent."

"How's that working out for you?"

"It's...indescribable," he sounded a little awestruck. "But then you should know. I missed ten years of his life, and I can't get that back, but at least I can have this now. Even if he keeps trying to convince me that you let him watch horror movies."

"Yeah, don't let him do that," she replied. "He will be awake all night and try to climb into your bed."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Everyone makes mistakes," she said with a slight blush. "But you'll get the hang of it eventually."

"I know, it's just a lot to learn."

"It is, but he's worth it," she replied, reclining in the tub a little. She was suddenly sleepy, she'd never noticed how calming his voice was.

"He is," he agreed. "It's just hard. I don't know any of his stories, and it's hard to parent him without that kind of base to build off of. I should go, I hear the water turning off."

"Yeah, probably a good idea."

"Call you tomorrow?"

"Definitely, it's been nice talking to you."

"You too, Belle."

She climbed out of the tub, wrapping herself in a towel and retreating to her bedroom. An idea was forming that would keep her company all of Saturday, and she was itching to start.

Saturday went much the same way, with the occasional texted question. The only difference, though, was that now she had something to amuse herself with. He called her again after Bae went to sleep that night, sounding even more tired and still pleased with himself. She did enjoy his company, even over the phone, which was a pleasant surprise. They got along very well, all things considered. She supposed she was pretty lucky, Bae's biological father could have been nearly anyone and he'd ended up being a man whose company she enjoyed. It was nice.

By Sunday, Belle was damn sure she'd made a good choice even though it technically went against their prior holiday arrangements. When she pulled into his driveway at lunchtime on Father's Day, Bae came running across the lawn to meet her.

"Hey Mom! We're cooking outside today!"

He pulled her around to the back porch where his father had a grill set up with hamburgers cooking on it.

"Well, well, well," he said with a smile at her. "Look who finally showed up!"

"I brought you a present," she said as cheerfully as she could, enjoying the look of shock that shot across his face. "I promise it doesn't bite."

"Well, now I have to buy you something for your birthday," he said smoothly.

"Don't worry, it's not really a Father's Day present, I made copies of all of my photo albums. I should have probably made some for you awhile ago."

His jaw dropped a little and she rubbed his back comfortingly.

"I figured we could all go through them later, I shouldn't be the only one who knows Bae's story."


	8. Chapter 8

tinuviel-undomiel said:

Adopted Son verse!: Belle and Bae always have a picnic on the first day of summer and this time Gold gets to go with them.

* * *

Belle had always had a soft spot for solstices and equinoxes. She really liked celestial events in general, but the fact that it was the longest day of the year was particularly special. She and Bae had a family tradition of going on a picnic in the local park, and this year Bae's father would be joining them as well.

Gold prepared for this the way he seemed to prepare for everything – by expecting literally anything to happen. Belle and Bae brought a basket and a blanket; Gold arrived with an umbrella, another blanket, bug spray, sunscreen, a first aid kit, and a bottle of wine in a satchel slung over his shoulder (which, Belle had to admit, she was eternally grateful for as he always brought excellent wine).

"Are we expecting a Biblical plague?" she teased him when she saw his collection of paraphernalia. "A swarm of insects? Maybe some light boils?"

"You'll be thanking me if it starts to rain," he reminded her. "Or if mosquitoes hit."

"It's a picnic," she reminded him. "The outdoors can occasionally happen. Anyway, it's a beautiful day out."

He conceded the point, trailing her and Bae on their way to their usual spot near the duck pond. Once they were there, Bae left his mother and father to set up while he ran off to kick around the soccer ball he'd brought with him.

"He plays football, too?" Arthur asked her curiously as he held one end of the blanket for her.

"He plays everything a little bit," Belle replied. "Baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming...if there's a team for it, he will sign up."

"Is he good at it?"

She could hardly keep the grin down at his barely concealed interest.

"Did you play when you were younger, then?" she said as nonchalantly as possible.

"A little," he admitted sheepishly. "I was quite good, actually, before I tore the cartilage in my knee anyway."

"Well, he's my son, so I have to enjoy watching him," she replied. "But between you and me, the ten-to-eleven-year-old group is not generally made up of future professionals."

He nodded, but she could see he was scarcely listening to her. Instead, he was totally focused on his son attempting to kick a ball into the air and bounce it off his head. How very like a father – Belle had sudden visions of the soccer camps and training sessions that were in her son's future. She was going to need a lot more wine to get through that.

It was killing him to watch and not be able to participate, she could tell. She'd never really put much thought into his leg even though in the past he'd expressed discontent with the idea of not being able to be an athletic father, she'd just assumed it was about getting to know Bae and that the superhero movie idea had solved the problem and moved on. To know that he had been an athlete in his life before them and that it had been taken away from him like that made her heart ache for him. It must be so hard to have a son who enjoyed everything he'd loved and yet not be able to share it with him.

Belle plopped down onto the blanket, smoothing out the corners and pretending not to notice the careful way Arthur had to lower himself down to the blanket to sit next to her.

"So," she decided to indulge him. "Tell me more about this secret career as a footballer of yours."

He fixed her with a wicked grin.

"It was hardly a _career,_ dearie," he winked. "I did some semi-pro though, so I'm not sure how that counts."

"Were you very good?"

"I went on some try-outs," he said with a shrug. "But no pro team in Scotland would have me. I probably should have come to America sooner, maybe I'd have had a shot here."

He reclined on the blanket, cradling his head in his hands and staring wistfully at the clouds in the sky.

"Do you miss it?" She couldn't help but ask. She should change the subject, get him talking about something cheerful, but she wanted to know him. Not just the parts of himself that he presented to the world, but the parts he hid as well. They were becoming great friends, and this was a part of friendship.

"Not as much as I thought I would," he admitted after a moment. "Immediately after I was hurt I thought my life was over, of course. But I found new things to fill my time like uni and marriage and my shop. And now I have my son."

"That's a good way to look at it," she replied, laying down next to him on the blanket, her head resting in the crook of her elbow. "I always envied people who had something like that they loved. I never really had that one thing that I was passionate about until Bae came around. I sometimes wonder if I missed out."

He glanced at her.

"For what it's worth, you are an excellent mother."

"Thank you," she replied sincerely. "I just...I feel like there should be more to me than parenting and running a flower shop, you know?"

"Well, what would you have done if you hadn't done that?"

She thought for a moment.

"I'd have finished my masters in library science, maybe gone to work in a university library. I like research."

"That's something."

"It's not really a hobby, though," she replied. "You can't really do research for fun."

"I suppose not," he said with a smile. "Why don't you take some night classes, then? See if anything strikes your fancy?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to dismiss his idea, but really, why should she? She worked long hours, but she had an assistant manager and her hours were flexible when she needed them to be – one night a week wouldn't be particularly onerous, after all. And he would gladly take Bae.

"I'll think about it," she said finally. "It would be nice to talk to other adults for a change. Not that you don't count, it's just...our lives both revolve around him. It might be nice to not be Bae's mother one night a week."

He didn't reply, simply nodding in agreement.

"I'm glad you came with us," she said as well. "It's a beautiful day, and it's much nicer to be here with company."

He looked over at her in surprise, like he'd not realized she might enjoy his conversation. Arthur was spared responding, though, as Bae chose that moment to return.

"I'm hungry," he said as he threw himself dramatically onto the grass near his mother. "Can we eat now?"

"Yes, we can eat now," she replied, pushing herself up to a seated position and digging through her basket for a package of baby wipes. "Wipe your hands off first, though."

Bae grumbled, but did as he was told. Arthur also accepted a wipe and fussily scrubbed his hands clean as Belle pulled containers of cold fried chicken and the accompanying side dishes out, setting them on the blanket and preparing the plates.

Both of her boys accepted them with thanks, though Arthur's were a bit more heartfelt than Bae's, and she thanked her lucky stars not for the first time that somehow in this big wide world she had found both of these two people to share her life with.

Belle couldn't imagine a more perfect start to summer.


	9. Chapter 9

** accio-firewhiskey said:**

Adoption prompt: Bae misses having enough alone time with Belle

**anonymousnerdgirl said:**

Adoption verse!prompt: Gold isn't sure when his nightly phone calls with Belle became a part of his routine, but he's never felt more alone than when they skip one.

* * *

It had been decades since Gold had given much thought to summer. He'd always been more of a fan of cool weather, and school years ran January to December back home. By the time he'd lived someplace where summer breaks had been a 'thing' he'd been married and crippled. He'd gone on vacations before, of course, early on in his marriage. But generally those were either early or late in the season, when attractions were less crowded and children were in school. He had absolutely not been prepared for the sheer amount of time Bae was available to him during the summer. It took all of his willpower to open his shop at all knowing that he could instead be visiting with his son.

Belle was really great about it, too. He suspected at least part of it was her relief at having a reliable place to leave him so she could work, but he decided not to question it when he was allowed to have Bae at the shop with him for a little while in the afternoons or spend an evening with the two of them.

He was even spending more time with Belle than before which had come as a bit of a shock. After their Father's Day weekend phone calls, they'd reached a new routine – the parent he was staying with would call the other one after his bedtime and discuss his day and any new developments. Belle was making a concerted effort to involve him more in Bae's life which he found he couldn't really express his feelings about because they mostly involved grinning like a loon.

Until one day, it didn't happen. He went through his day as usual, shutting up shop around five and returning home. They'd already planned on him not coming over for dinner that night, as Bae had a meeting with his therapist and an appointment with the tutor Gold had hired for his dyslexia that evening, but he had still assumed that Belle would call him.

He was on pins and needles waiting, but Bae's bedtime came and went with nary a sound from his phone (and he'd checked about once every thirty seconds). Nine came and went, then so did ten and as the clock crept closer and closer to eleven with no word from Belle he began to panic. What if there had been an accident? What if Belle and Bae were in the hospital right now? What if he never had another chance to see them again? Would anyone tell him? Was he listed on any paperwork?

His throat was threatening to close as he finally lunged for his phone, finding Belle in his contact list and hitting the call button. The phone rang twice before sending him to voicemail, and he damn near threw his phone against the wall before the text notification went off.

_Sorry, I'll call back in a few to explain._

He stared at the text on the screen as though it would suddenly rearrange itself into something that made sense, but no explanation was forthcoming. It was another twenty minutes before the phone range and Belle's name flashed on his screen. He nearly dropped the phone in his haste to hit the _talk_ button.

"Belle?" he said into the phone, rather than _hello_.

"Hey," she said softly. "Sorry I didn't call earlier, it's been kind of a weird night."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," she sounded apologetic now. "I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean to worry you."

He could feel himself beginning to lose his temper but he couldn't stop the explosion that was coming.

"Oh no, I wasn't worried at all," he snapped sarcastically. "Just because the mother of my child doesn't contact me all day and I have no way of knowing if they're alive or dead in a ditch someplace why would I worry? In fact, I've never been more relaxed in my life!"

The line was silent for a few minutes, and Gold felt the anger begin to drain from him leaving him simply sad.

"Are you finished?" she finally said. Her voice was lacking all the happiness that he had become used to hearing when they spoke.

"Yeah," he finally said. "Where were you today?"

"I was spending the day with Bae," she said. "In the car he asked me if I could keep a secret and then told me he missed spending time alone just the two of us. I didn't want to interfere with any of our family plans this week, so he and I spent the evening playing boardgames and eating pizza. He just went to bed when I called you."

"Oh," he put his hand over his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He was such an idiot, he'd been with them every day for months. Of course Bae missed his mother.

"Yeah," she snapped. "Is that a good enough excuse for you?"

"You still should have let me know when I didn't hear from you," he mumbled.

He heard her take a deep breath and let it out slowly on the other end.

"You're right," she replied. "I should have texted you. The thing is, I'm not used to needing to account for how I raise my child to anyone else. We're doing a good job with this coparenting, but it's still awkward as hell for me sometimes."

"I want to be more than a dinner and weekend dad, you know," he said finally. "I don't want you to have to explain yourself but I'd like to at least be involved."

"I know," he could hear the resignation in her voice. "Believe me, I do. I'm just not really sure how to go about doing that. I like you and all, and I'm glad you're his dad, but it's hard to be a team when I spend all day with him by myself."

"I could take him more often," he replied. "Split the custody up more evenly at least until school starts."

"But then we're still back to one of us being alone with him all the time," she pointed out. "And quite frankly, we're getting to a point in this where he's going to have to start living by regular rules at your house. I can't always be the bad guy, and you can't be the fun dad if you're going to be more than a weekend dad. That's not how it works."

They were both quiet for a long moment, Gold was tense and exhausted and just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. He and Belle hadn't had an argument since the first day he appeared on her doorstep, and he found he didn't like it at all. She'd somehow become his closest friend in the last few months, possibly the best friend he'd ever had. Having her upset with him felt like being stabbed. He searched frantically for an answer to their problem, some solution he could offer to solve this problem.

"What if we went away together?" he finally blurted out.

"_What?_"

"As a family," he clarified. "You, me, and Bae. A family vacation. We could share the parenting responsibilities for a week or two and come up with a system that worked for when we got back. He'd be with both of us all the time."

"Arthur..." she sounded unconvinced.

"This could really work," he insisted. "You wouldn't have to be the bad guy and I could get used to being in charge of enforcing rules but you'd be there if there was a problem. And I'd pay for the whole thing."

She sighed.

"All the same problems would just be waiting for us when we got back."

"Not necessarily. Most parents at least live together for a few years before they end up raising a child separately, we never had that. This would at least be some kind of foundation we could build on and it's a lot less pressure than one of us staying in the other one's home."

"Alright," she said after a minute. "A family vacation it is. We can work out the details tomorrow and then tell Bae at dinner."

"Thank you, Belle," he felt the relief flooding through him at her acquiescence.

"Don't thank me yet," she said. "You've never spent a week in a hotel room with a ten-year-old before."

"I'll get a suite," he suggested. "Bae can have his own room and everything."

"Wow," she said, her voice was back to cheerful but he could sense the slight exhaustion behind it that mirrored his own. "If I'd known you were going to offer a _nice_ hotel I might have suggested you take us on vacation a few weeks ago."

"Anything for the mother of my child," he said a bit flirtatiously, hoping to get a giggle out of her and he wasn't disappointed. "But seriously, Belle, I would do anything for you. Even if it's just backing off for a little bit."

It would kill him to do it, but he would back off if she asked. As much as he valued his relationship with his son, he valued his son's continuing happiness more and that was entirely dependent on Belle.

"I wouldn't ever ask that," she said, sounding mildly affronted by the suggestion. "Bae loves you, and you love him. You should be in his life. I just think it's time we start acting more like partners and less like you're my babysitter. And that goes for my behavior, too."

"Well, when you put it that way who am I to argue?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "Hey, it's getting kind of late. I'll call you tomorrow at lunch so we can talk about this then?"

"Sounds good," he replied. "I am sorry I lost my temper with you."

"No, no it's fine. I'm sorry I worried you. I should have at least let you know I'd be calling late."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "We just have a lot to deal with right now."

"Yeah," she sighed. "We really do. Maybe I should make an appointment with Dr. Hopper for myself."

"I'm not even going to touch that one," he replied. "But anyway, you were going to bed. Sleep well, dearie."

"You too," and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Goodnight, Arthur."

"Goodnight, Belle."


	10. Chapter 10

accio-firewhiskey said:

Prompt: they go on a short trip and everyone assumes they are a biological family/married couples

* * *

Belle hadn't been on a real vacation since spring break in college. She and Bae took trips every couple of years, usually going to the lake or maybe a weekend in the city, but with her job and their lack of extended family they rarely took proper vacations. Their last one was probably the year he was six and they went to Disney. Not that they spent their summers doing nothing – Bae always went to summer camp for a few weeks in August and they would spend at least one long weekend away.

It was just hard for Belle to take time off, although she'd probably been taking too much recently. She was so lucky to have Anton (or as Bae called him, 'Uncle Tiny') stick around after her father died. He'd been the only employee at the time, and since Belle had so little experience running the shop he'd been more than happy to take over as assistant manager. Sometimes she thought it might be a good idea to ask him to buy in as a partner, then she could do what she was good at (keeping the books, managing the business side of things) and let him do what he was good at (everything else). She'd never really been able to afford to sell part of the shop, though. He did definitely deserved a bonus after all the time she'd had to take for parenting related things this year, though. She'd have to figure something out.

As they walked into the lavish hotel on the Jersey Shore that Arthur had made reservations at, all thoughts of business evaporated. This was far nicer than any hotel Belle had stayed in, and definitely nicer than any building that Bae had ever even set foot in. She had the overwhelming urge to remind her son of his manners, but he seemed spooked enough by the fact that there was a doorman to be on his best behavior.

"Good morning, sir," the perky blonde at the front desk said as they approached. "Can I help you?"

"Checking in," Gold replied. "The reservation should be under the name 'Gold.'"

The girl typed something into her computer, the polished customer service smile never leaving her face.

"Hey Mom," Bae whispered loud enough to be heard by everyone despite his best efforts at subtlty. "Can I go look at the fish?"

He pointed over towards a massive aquarium in the middle of the lobby. Belle looked over at Arthur before nodding to Bae.

"Don't get your fingerprints on the glass," she called after him as he bounded off to the elaborate display.

"How many key cards do you need?" the concierge broke in.

"Two should be fine, thank you," he said after flashing a quick glance towards Belle.

"Alright," the blonde replied, typing some more things into her computer and then presenting two hotel key cards to Arthur.

He handed one to Belle before putting the other into the inner pocket of his jacket. He then signed a few papers that were set out in front of him, and the blonde summoned a bellhop to take their bags up to their room.

"Have a great visit, Mr. and Mrs. Gold!" the girl chirped as they walked off to reclaim Bae.

Arthur nearly tripped over his own feet, paling and shooting a horrified glance at Belle. For her part, Belle had to cover her mouth to prevent the laughter from bubbling up out of her. She was actually a little surprised neither of them had thought of this happening sooner. They were on friendly terms and shared a child – the obvious conclusion to draw was that they were married or at least _together_.

Arthur's eyes had gone huge and he seemed to be searching for some way to inform the girl that she'd misread the situation, but Belle decided to just leave it be.

"Thank you," she said over her shoulder. "We will."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the waiting bellhop as Bae returned to her side, eager to see their room and also to tell his mother about how cool the fish in the tank were.

"You didn't have to go along with that," Arthur muttered into her ear once they were in the elevator. "I'd have set her straight."

"There was no need," she replied. "What's the harm in letting her think it? We're only here a week and I wasn't really planning on picking anyone up by the pool on a family vacation."

He gave her a strange little smile.

"She's going to think you're a trophy wife," he replied and she smirked at the teasing note in his voice.

"And a damn good one," she said smugly.

He did laugh at that, loud enough that both the bellhop and Bae looked at them. Luckily, they arrived at their floor before either could ask what was so funny, because Belle wasn't entirely sure she wanted to explain it to them. The bellhop led them to the correct room, swinging the door open and letting them in before the cart containing their luggage.

The room was beautiful and huge, and the bellhop took a few moments to go around explaining the various amenities. There were three bedrooms, two of which overlooked the beach and the third looked out towards the pier. It also had two bathrooms, a kitchenette, a sitting area, and a balcony that stretched all the way across the two ocean view bedrooms and the sitting area. Bae immediately lay claim to the pier view room (most likely due to the Ferris wheel clearly visible in that direction) and hauling his bag into it excitedly, leaving Belle and Gold to the other two.

The bellhop also made sure to note that there was a complimentary babysitter on-site should the two adults want to see anything without a ten-year-old underfoot. Gold handled this one a little better than he had the concierge, but he still seemed uncomfortable with the idea that the two of them were an item. Still, he tipped the young man generously before shutting the door and leaving the small family to their own devices.

"Well, you definitely know how to show your fake wife a good time," she teased as she walked to the window. "This hotel is fantastic."

He grimaced before joining her.

"It's not really funny," he sighed.

She frowned, glancing over to him.

"Does it bother you?" she asked. "Having people think we're together?"

"It should bother you," he insisted. "For one thing, what if Bae hears?"

"Then we'll explain it to him," she replied. "It's not going to stop happening because you want it to, so we're going to have to deal with it one way or the other. Personally, I'd rather make a joke out of it."

"I just don't want him thinking that's what this is about," Arthur said softly. "I don't want him to think that we're going to start dating and either get his hopes up or get upset about sharing you."

"We can talk to him about it tonight if you want, let him know exactly what's going on. He's a smart kid, he'll understand."

"You're right," he said after a pause. "We can talk about it tonight. As a family."

She smiled at the subtle change in his voice at the word _family._ He was so desperate to have a family and to be loved. From the first time he'd come to dinner, she'd known he _wanted_ to remarry and yet in the ten years since his last marriage ended he hadn't. Had he even dated in that time, or had he just been alone? Maybe, she realized, it wasn't just worry for Bae that caused his discomfort with the idea of them as a couple. Maybe it was something he hadn't even known he'd wanted.

She opened her mouth to try to offer him some kind of comfort, an assurance that he had them now one way or the other, but she couldn't quite think of the words he needed to hear. Bae, however, chose that exact moment to make everything better.

He dashed back into the sitting area wearing his bathing suit.

"Mom! Dad! This place is the best!" he effused. "Can we go swimming now?"

"Maybe you should have asked before you changed into your swim trunks?" Belle teased him. "We could have had plans to go to a museum or the aquarium or something first."

"But you don't have any plans!" he insisted. "Or else you'd have said something in the car."

"I can have plans I don't tell you about," she replied. "But...if your dad doesn't have a problem with swimming right now I don't either."

She glanced over at Arthur. This had been part of their arrangement for this trip. She was going to defer to him in matters of Bae for the duration of their vacation, at least in front of their son. In return, Arthur would be the one to do any behavioral corrections that arose. Any disagreements were going to be handled out of earshot.

Arthur fidgeted a little bit at Bae's expectant (and maybe slightly confused) look at him, before finally nodding.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "We can go to the beach. Just give your mother and I a few minutes to get changed."

"You can get a start on your sunscreen while we change," Belle told Bae. "It's in my beach bag by the door."

Bae looked at both of them with the biggest smile on his face she'd seen in years as he went to retrieve the bag.

It didn't take too long for Belle and Arthur to change, and it took him a little less time than her, but Bae was still impatiently stomping around before it was finally time to leave. Arthur was wearing a simple pair of trunks with a tropical pattern on them, along with a white linen shirt. She'd never seen him look so casual, but she liked it. He was still leaning on his cane, and she wasn't entirely sure how well he was going to handle the sand, but vacations seemed to suit him.

Belle's bathing suit was brand new (she'd really not had one worth wearing to a nice hotel) but she liked its 40s style nautical theme. She also had a giant floppy sunhat and a sheer white coverup because Belle was pale and didn't fancy also being pink.

"Alright, are we ready to go?" she asked, and Bae nodded enthusiastically. "Did you get sunscreen on?"

"I got my entire front," he replied. "And Dad got my back. Can we _please_ go down now?"

Belle glanced at Arthur, reminding him that this was his responsibility today.

"Yeah, I think the grown-ups can deal with sunscreen on the beach," he replied, glancing discretely at Belle to make sure this was the right answer.

She replied with a quick nod and he relaxed visibly. Bae was looking between them suspiciously, but didn't bother to ask any questions and risk delaying beach time any more than necessary. Belle took her beach bag, handed Arthur the one containing the sandcastle making supplies (just in case the waves lost their luster), and they were on their way.

Once they reached the beach itself, Bae ran off in the direction of the water, only waving absently at his mother's shouted reminder to stay where she could see him.

"Do I have to remind you about sunscreen, too?" she teased Arthur where he stood next to her.

"No, no," he replied. "I'm Scottish and have been outside before, I am _quite_ familiar with the need for sunscreen."

"Excellent," she set her bag down, spreading out towels for each of them to sit on.

He got down onto the towel much the same way he'd gotten onto the blanket for their picnic and she once again pretended not to notice how much harder it was for him. He had his pride.

"I uhh, may need help with my back," he said softly.

"How about I do yours if you do mine?" she replied, sliding off her coverup and offering him the bottle of sunscreen. "Bae usually helps, but he's otherwise occupied and also not very good at it."

"Well, then I'll try to do as good as a ten-year-old who wants to hurry up and go swimming," he promised her.

They sat in silence for awhile, splitting the bottle of lotion between them and watching Bae frolicking in the waves.

"If that boy gets to be twenty without breaking his neck I am going to throw a party," she grumbled as she watched her son flopping around in the surf. "I swear he's trying to give me gray hair."

"I was the same way at his age," Arthur said softly. "He'll be fine."

"I know," she sighed. "And you'll notice how I'm not making him stop. But I'm his mother, I'm supposed to worry."

"That's true," he replied thoughtfully. "Want me to go play with him?"

"Up to you," she said with a shrug. "However, if you're going to go keep an eye on our son by yourself then I have to let you know I will be sitting here quietly enjoying the sunshine and reading a book. Also possibly taking a nap."

"It's good of you to make that sacrifice for me," he said drolly as he got back to his feet. "I'll keep you in my prayers."

"That's sweet of you, but I'm sure I'll be alright. I'm a big girl, after all."

She winked at him before putting on her sunglasses and stretching out on the towel on her stomach so she could watch them for a little while. He rolled his eyes and limped down to the waves where Bae played.

The two seemed to have a good time, moving into deeper water where Arthur could move with less pain and was less likely to get knocked over by the breaking surf. Bae didn't seem to mind, instead getting his father to toss him out into deeper water before swimming back, begging for it to happen again. She smiled and watched them awhile longer over the top of her book.

One way or the other, they were a family now. Maybe not in the way everyone was going to assume, but she wouldn't trade this family for any other one in the world.


	11. Chapter 11

** Anonymous said:**

I'm not sure if this would be a full prompt, but I can see Gold wanting to take hundreds pictures of Bae while on vacation.

**Anonymousnerdgirl said:**

Adoption!prompt: Gold goes a bit crazy taking pictures of the family vacation.

**Ctdg said:**

a prompt for your adoption!verse if you're interested : they lose bae somewhere, i don't know maybe at the pier or a fair during a walk, and for the first time gold gets very angry with bae when finally they find hi,. sorry the bit of angst

* * *

He knew he was overdoing it, but Belle and Bae were being so patient with him he couldn't help snapping pictures of every little thing. He'd never had a family before, and though he had Bae's old photo albums thanks to Belle, there was something special about taking pictures of things that he'd have memories of.

He could see the weary patience in Belle's expression, and Bae was a kind enough boy to follow his mother's lead and pose in front of everything his father directed him towards. Belle even cheerfully took the camera from him on more than one occasion so that he and Bae could be in pictures together, or found strangers to hand it to so that he could have a few with all three of them. He made a mental note to figure out some way to thank her for not beating him over the head with the camera like he could tell she secretly wanted to every time he made them stop in front of yet another point of interest and smile so he could capture the moment on film.

It was the third day of their trip and so far they'd indulged him at the beach and the aquarium, and now they were indulging him at the pier.

"Hey Dad?" Bae finally said. "I'm going to go look at the stingrays, okay?"

Gold couldn't suppress the sheepish look at his face as his son wandered off to the edge of the pier to look down at the stingrays that were jumping out of the water and flapping through the air like they were attempting to fly before landing back in the ocean. He'd not really realized how much his son liked marine animals before this trip, but made a mental note of it for later. Maybe his son would like a fishtank.

He snapped a few pictures of Bae at the pier's edge, just in case. Belle rolled her eyes at him, but her patient smile took any sting out of the gesture.

"Come on," she said, taking his arm and steering him towards a nearby bench. "We can watch him from here. You probably should rest your leg, anyway."

She was right, of course. He'd been pushing himself far too hard with all the swimming and walking they'd been doing. He wouldn't admit to it, of course, but he had started popping the prescription painkillers his doctor had given him (and that he had _stopped_ taking entirely years ago) just to go to sleep the last couple of nights. Maybe he'd not been as subtle about his knee as he thought he'd been.

"You know," she said when he failed to reply to her, "you won't forget everything just because you don't have a picture of it."

"It's not just that," he said with a sigh. "I've missed his entire life. I have ten years of photo albums that I'm not in, and ten years of memories that I don't have."

"You're not going to make up for all that in a two week vacation, either. There will be other albums, and other memories," she promised. "And you'll be in all of them."

"I just want to have something that's _ours_," he replied. "You and Bae...you're the only family I've got, you know."

She smiled at him thoughtfully before hooking her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder. He wondered briefly how he'd become so used to Belle touching him. Nobody touched him. He'd been alone for ten years and he thought he was used to it, then one day he had walked into her house and suddenly he wasn't used to it anymore.

"You know, you're important to both of us," she said softly. "You're his father. He loves you."

He bit back the small twinge of disappointment at her reassurance that _Bae_ loved him immediately after her proclamation that he was important to _both_ of them. He wasn't sure where it had come from, but he was inclined to blame the damn hotel employees who kept assuming she was his wife. It made it damn hard to keep thinking about her platonically. He'd been a little afraid of this happening the moment he found out how good she was, but after her date with Michael Tillman he'd been congratulating himself on how very not jealous he had been of the other man. Of course, she'd been reluctant to even go on that date and had come home to spend the rest of the evening sitting on the sofa with him and their son – he realized now that might have been part of his easy acceptance.

He couldn't let himself fall for her, dammit. That was just simply not even an option. Belle was the mother of his son, and that was all. She was lovely and kind to him, of course he was fond of her. It was only natural, really, for him to develop feelings for her. The problem was, there was no way those feelings could ever amount to anything.

For one thing, she was completely out of his league. For another, pursuing any sort of romantic relationship with her would either end in marriage or, more likely, in his son being hurt – there was no third option. They were far too close for it to be a possibility, even if she did reciprocate; which she most certainly did not, or else she'd have been as upset as him by people thinking they were a couple.

It was like some sort of cruel joke. Rip a man's heart to pieces, leave him in solitude for a decade, and then offer him everything he could ever want in a family but force him to live apart from them and never be able to risk getting any closer. Life sure as hell had a strange sense of humor sometimes.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Belle's voice broke into his thoughts.

"I was just thinking," he searched desperately for an answer that wasn't the horrible truth. "I was just thinking about how strange fate is sometimes."

It was close enough to not being a lie, anyway.

"Yeah?" she lifted her head to look at him. "How so?"

"Well," he began, "what if I'd never found the box with his birth certificate in it? Or not seen the doctor's reports with his eye color listed? Or if Milah never lost custody? What if she'd left him at the hospital earlier in the day and your friend had been able to find a foster family for him? What if he'd had a different mother? Different parents? Would I still be here with you watching him?"

"Probably not," she agreed. "Luckily all those things went our way, isn't it?"

"I'd have tried to take him, you know," he said, momentarily unable to look at her. "That first day. I came to tell you I was taking him."

"What changed your mind?" she sounded somber, but not angry and he hated himself now for ever having contemplated fighting her in the first place.

"You fainted, and he came inside and saw you and he was so upset and so protective. He barely wanted me near you, and I remember thinking _well, that's it, then. I lost my chance to have him because he'll always love her more._" He took a deep breath before facing her. "Do you hate me?"

"Should I?"

"Probably," he said with a shrug.

"Well, I don't. I was nothing to you then but a name on a piece of paper and he was your son. You didn't owe me anything, and you ultimately didn't end up taking him. You've always tried to do what was best for him. If our positions had been reversed, I'd probably have done the same thing."

"Would you?"

"I think most anybody would have. You hear cases like ours all the time where everyone wants full custody and nobody ever stops to think about the child. I'm proud of how far we've come for him. It's not always easy, but I think Bae is happier than he's ever been before as a result. And you're a really good dad. I'm glad to have you here."

Gold was a little breathless at her easy absolution. He'd never planned to tell her that for fear of what she would think of him. He'd not wanted to risk putting so much distance between them, and yet he had told her and she had forgiven him immediately. More than forgiven him, she didn't seem to find him in need of her forgiveness. His heart felt like it might just stop altogether.

"I'm glad we're making this work, too," he finally replied. "I'm happy to know both of you, not just him."

He was pretty sure it was the closest he'd ever get to telling Belle that in his secret fantasies of a perfect family, she was always there – that she was the thing he tried the hardest never to let himself want. He'd been successful at hiding it for the most part, even from himself, but he wanted her just the same and this trip was only serving to reinforce how very much he did.

She smiled one of her half-smiles at him, almost as though she was reading his mind before she spoke.

"Why don't we get Bae and go find something horrible and deep fried for lunch? You can take a picture and everything."

"That sounds like a very good idea," he replied, grateful for her interruption to his thoughts. "And I will take _several_ pictures."

He stood up slowly, his knee still paining him, and glanced around looking for Bae. Only his son wasn't standing at the railing anymore. Gold glanced around but didn't see him anywhere on the part of the pier they'd been sitting at. Belle seemed to realize what was wrong the exact second he did, her head whipping around as she scanned the crowd for signs of their child.

"Do you see Bae?" he asked her, even though he knew the answer before he asked.

"He was here a second ago," she said frantically. "He must have wandered away."

Right, wandered away. Gold clung to that thought, because if he wandered away he was still probably safe someplace. If he wandered away, it meant no one had snatched him away and that he hadn't fallen into the water.

"You look back where we've already been and I'm going to go try the other side of the boardwalk," she was suddenly in full on military commander mode, all sense of sweetness gone.

If anything, he was grateful for her cool head because he had completely frozen.

"He...he can swim, right?" Gold asked her timidly, looking around the barricade that blocked the tourists from the ocean.

"What?" it took her a second to catch up with him. "Oh, yeah. Of course. He's a great swimmer. And he'd have called for us if he fell."

He wasn't sure which one of them she was reassuring, but he was willing to cling to it like a lifeline.

"Go look for him, if you see a cop or a lifeguard, stop them and ask for help," she reminded him. "Call me as soon as you find him."

And with that, Belle dashed off to the side of the pier they hadn't yet visited. Gold was damn near frozen with terror, but he had to look. His son needed him to look for him. He finally got his legs working again and began going back the way they had come. Stopping at everyplace they had visited to ask if they'd seen a little boy alone. None of them had. He looked desperately for Bae, but also for a police officer or a lifeguard or _anyone_ with any kind of authority who he could go to for assistance finding his child.

Bae could be anywhere, he could be with anyone. He could have lost him forever because they'd not been paying attention. Why hadn't they been paying attention? Had anything they'd said been important enough to lose their child over?

He was pushing himself too hard, his knee was killing him and it was all he could do to keep going, but Bae _needed_ him and he couldn't miss this opportunity to be there for his son again. He couldn't, and he wouldn't. If they just found the boy safe and sound he'd never not be watching him again, he promised. He'd never take another risk like that again.

The phone ringing snapped him out of his self-recriminations and he fumbled getting it out of his pocket.

"Belle?" he said into the phone breathlessly.

"I found him," she said. "He's fine, we're going back to the bench now."

"I'll be right there," Gold felt all the terror and tension in him focus on one task – he had to see his son again and know that he was okay.

It took him longer to get back to the bench than it had taken him to walk through the pier in the first place, adrenaline no longer carrying him and his knee reminding him with every step that he'd nearly failed his son. Finally, though, he saw them and his legs just about went out from under him in relief. Belle was giving a stern look to a sheepish looking Bae, but when she saw him she gently pushed Bae over in his direction. Bae trotted over solemnly and reached his father just in time to prevent Gold from simply collapsing.

Gold dropped to his good knee, wrapping his arms tight around Bae. The boy accepted this reaction patiently, but after awhile began squirming until finally Gold released him.

"He walked away to follow the stingrays," Belle had appeared while he was focused on his son. "We already talked about how he needs to let someone know before he wanders off."

"I'm really sorry," Bae seemed near to crying at the realization that both his parents had been so worried about him. "I didn't want to interrupt and I didn't think I'd go so far away. I'm sorry, Dad."

"No, I'm not angry," Gold reassured him. "I was just so worried about you, Bae."

He pulled his son into another tight hug, and this time Bae wrapped his arms back around him and buried his face in his neck. He felt a slight dampness there and realized that Bae was crying. That set Gold crying, too, and next thing he knew Belle was knelt down next to them, her arms draped around both their shoulders in an awkward hug as she mumbled little shushing noises at both of them.

He wasn't quite sure how long they sat like that, but eventually the moment was over. Gold and Bae both pretending like they hadn't just been crying on the other one and Belle petting both their hair comfortingly.

"Now, how about lunch?" she broke the silence.

"Yes," he agreed, clearing his throat. "I think before that little scare someone said something about deep fried?"

"I remember the same thing," Belle replied, offering her hand to help him up and he accepted with a grimace. "I think after this little adventure, whatever it is should also be on a stick."

"Deep fried and on a stick it is," Gold said, patting Bae's head gently one more time just to reassure himself that the boy was really fine and hadn't been lost forever. "How does that sound, Bae?"

"Can we get funnel cake, too?" the boy asked quietly, as though afraid of being rebuked again.

"Funnel cake sounds like a marvelous idea," Gold replied. "Come on, let's go find a stand."

Bae was careful to remain in view the rest of the day, and Belle stuck close to Gold's side (and always next to his bad leg) until they returned to the hotel after a feast of corn dogs, french fries, lemonade, and funnel cake. It was only once they were safely ensconced in the safety of the room and he could finally be by himself for a moment that he let himself accept he idea that he'd damn near lost his son – his entire _family_ – with nothing to show for it but photos and an empty heart.


	12. Chapter 12

queueingtocomplain said:

Adopted son verse Belle wants to look extra nice for dinner with Gold, and she isn't quite sure why.

Tri-sarah-topsaurus said:

They get raw oysters at a restaurant by the beach and she reacts… strangely. She takes a hot bath in the large hotel tub, falls asleep, and wakes up… well, wet.

endangeredslug said:

Prompt: belle dreams that instead of Bae, gold is there for her. Sexy stuff happens.

Anonymous said:

Adoption!verse: Belle dreams of Gold.

* * *

"But why can't I go with you?" Bae whined from his perch at the edge of his mother's bed for the third time that night.

"For one thing, you don't eat sea food," Belle reminded him as she put the finishing touches on her mascara." "For another thing, we're having a very late dinner and you'll be asleep before we get back."

Bae scowled, but didn't respond. She and Arthur had decided to take advantage of the complimentary childcare the hotel offered in order to go out for seafood while at the beach. Bae didn't like seafood, but would never admit to that until he was staring down a plate of fried fish and had eaten all his fries. He would have a much better time with his Game Boy and the babysitter than he would with them, which was really the only reason she thought Arthur had agreed to a night for the two of them to become friends outside of parenthood. She wanted to get to know her son's father as a human being rather than just being Bae's parents all the time, which was something they'd never done. It couldn't hurt their relationship to spend more time together.

"If you're just going out to dinner, why are you all dressed up?" Bae grumped. "You never wear that much makeup."

"Because that is how grownups dress for nice restaurants," she replied. "Anyway, since when do you care if I wear makeup?"

"You wore makeup for your date," he pointed out."

"Because that was at a nice restaurant," she replied. "I'm just trying to get to know your dad as friends, alright?"

Bae didn't look like he believed her, but he didn't have time to make any reply as at that moment there was a tentative knock on the door to Belle's room.

"Come in," she called out and Arthur poked his head in.

"The babysitter is here," he said, before his eyes settled on hers and his jaw dropped.

"Oh God," she said. "You think it's too much, too."

Belle looked down at the black dress she was wearing. It wasn't overly fancy, just a simple black A-line. The bodice, now that she thought about it, might be a bit tight but other than that it was a perfectly nice dress.

"No, no," he reassured her. "You look lovely, just...different."

"Good different?"

"Very good," he said indulgently.

Bae was looking at her even more skeptically than he had been earlier, and she popped him lightly on the head with her handbag. He let out an over-dramatic groan, flopping onto the bed and making noises like he was dying.

"Alright, mister," she said with a laugh as she stepped into her heels. "That's enough from you. Now, be good to the sitter and we'll be back after you go to sleep."

She shot a glance at Arthur, to remind him that he was supposed to be the one to give Bae his instructions about the evening. He was still staring at her dumbstruck and she was stuck someplace between flattered and worry that she was overdressed for the evening.

"Bedtime is ten pm sharp," she continued, giving up on Arthur's ability to take her hint for the moment. "And I don't want to hear that you were up all night playing games, okay?"

"Yes, Mom," Bae huffed.

Belle shooed Bae out towards the shared living area, and Arthur stepped back to give them space. The provided sitter was an energetic looking girl of college age, wearing a hotel shirt with a pair of jeans.

"Hi," she said brightly. "I'm Holly. Who is this?"

"This is Bailey," Belle introduced, nudging Bae until he stepped forward and offered Holly a handshake which she accepted.

Belle gave her a quick rundown of Bae's rules and then, just like that, they were out the door for a grown-up activity.

The restaurant was excellent, one of those beach side restaurants that was a tourist destination during the day and fine dining after dark. Between her son's distaste for dead sea creatures and her own aversion to leaving him home with strangers, it had been years since Belle had gotten to go out for any sort of sea food, and she told Arthur as much as they were seated at a table.

"Really?" he said, sounding incredulous.

"Well," she replied. "I'm not going to go out alone and Bae can't stand it, so I probably haven't had fish since he was six and I took Ruby out for her birthday. We've tried once or twice since then, but Bae can't even stand fish sticks so eventually I gave up."

"Luckily, I think we can rectify that," he said smiling at her. "What do you like?"

"Oh everything," she assured him. "It's one of my biggest regrets about motherhood."

He looked startled for a second before realizing her joke and smiling.

"I assure you, dearie, this will be worth the wait."

He hadn't been lying, ordering oysters and cocktails to start.

"So," he began, more to his cocktail than to her, "are you enjoying being here?"

"The restaurant or vacation?"

"Either. Both."

He sounded so nervous for her approval that her heart skipped a beat.

"Of course I am," she told him. "Really, if anything you're being too good to us. You don't have to do these kinds of things to make us like you."

"I like doing it," he said, shrugging. "You sacrificed a lot of things to raise Bae and you shouldn't have had to. I never had to make those sacrifices, and I can afford to spoil both of you, so I want to."

"Well," she said with a smile. "I'm not going to stop you."

She popped another oyster into her mouth, closing her eyes and savoring the freshness and the sheer indulgence that she rarely got to enjoy with a happy moan. When she looked back at him he was staring at her strangely and she averted her eyes. This suddenly felt like a date. He seemed to have picked up on her discomfort, rapidly scanning the restaurant for anything to focus on besides her. His face lit up at the sight of their food being brought out, and Belle opted not to draw anymore attention to the awkward moment.

She couldn't help smiling in delight at her dungeoness crab and he just looked at her in something akin to disbelief over his own plate which contained a delicious looking swordfish steak.

"You really don't get to go out much, do you?"

"You hadn't noticed?" she asked between bites.

"Why is that, anyway?" he was suddenly serious.

She shrugged before answering him.

"Bae's a lot of work and I don't like leaving him with strangers."

"You have a lot of friends who would take him," he pointed out. "Your friend Ruby, for instance. And clearly you do something with him during the summer so you can work. So why don't you go out much?"

She put her fork down and stared at him in shock for a second. It had never occurred to her he might question her social life too hard.

"I don't like to date," she said finally. "And before you ask, I never had a bad boyfriend or a guy who wouldn't take no for an answer. In college I was actually engaged for a little bit. I just...I don't know, I'd rather get to know someone as a person first and dating just feels like being a piece of meat at the grocery store."

"You were engaged?" he said, sounding shocked.

"And you were married," she replied evenly. "We both had lives before we met."

"No, of course," he was fumbling to apologize. "I'm sorry, I just...I had no idea. What happened?"

"If you're hoping for an interesting story you're going to be disappointed," she warned him. "I tutored George in Freshman English, and he said he wanted to take me out as thanks. One thing lead to another and we ended up dating for a year or so. He proposed before summer break of Sophomore year, and by Junior year I knew I wanted something else out of life. Then my dad died and I inherited the flower shop and I just realized that life was too short for a guy I wasn't completely sold on, you know? Bae I could be completely sold on."

She recited the story as dispassionately as she possibly could, there had been a little more to her relationship with George McNabb than she'd let on.

"I know exactly what you mean," he said softly. "Like you said, we both had lives."

"Well, what was yours?"

He grimaced, but met her gaze.

"Fair is fair, I suppose," he replied. "You already know about Milah, of course. The only other one really worth mentioning would be Cora."

He took a long drink of his cocktail and she reached out and held his hand comfortingly. He stared at her hand resting on his for a moment as though he couldn't quite understand it.

"It was a few years after my divorce," he finally continued. "It wasn't a particularly good time in my life. Cora was a beautiful woman, and we had a brief affair. Turns out, she was also a social climber and I was a means to an end. My mistake, if you want to call it that, was introducing her to people with more money and influence than I had."

"And what happened to her?" Belle prompted softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"She's married now," he provided. "And from what I understand they are absolutely miserable but staying together for their child."

"Oh," she said, trying to think of something else to say. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said. "It was for the best, really. She wasn't a very nice person and we brought out the worst in each other. I was better off once she was gone."

"Well, then I'm glad she's not here now. I'd like Bae to have a better sort of step-mother."

"She really would have been terrible," he agreed. "But I have no particular desire to expand his family anytime soon. There's no need to worry yourself on that account."

There was nothing Belle could say to that, so she just smiled at him as comfortingly as she could. He smiled back shyly and it was a few more moments before they both realized that she was still holding his hand on the table. Belle yanked her hand back so fast she was surprised she didn't spill her water, and they returned to a carefully casual conversation over their meal.

It was close to eleven when they finally returned to the shared room. Bae was long asleep, and Arthur tipped Holly for her time and sent her on her way.

"I had a great time," Belle said to him, feeling awkward again. "Thanks for doing all of this."

"You don't have to thank me," he replied softly. "You're my family now, and you're great company."

"Be that as it may, I do appreciate everything you've done for us."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and stood on tip-toes for a second to place a kiss on his cheek, her hand resting over his heart to balance her. He stiffened the moment she touched him, and she was fairly sure he didn't breathe until she had pulled away. Arthur didn't say anything, just looking at her with shock writ large across his face.

"I'm going to take a bath before bed," she said. "Goodnight, Arthur."

"Goodnight, Belle."

Was it her imagination, or did she hear a wistful longing in his voice?

She couldn't quite shake the feeling that they had crossed a line on this trip, but she wasn't sure exactly where it had been or even if she was upset about it. They had definitely gotten closer, and Bae had been thrilled having both around constantly. Oh, why did this all have to be so damn confusing?

Belle pinned her hair up, wondering how much of her troubles were related to the drinks she'd had over dinner and how much would still be there in the morning. She settled into the bath and gasped as the hot water met her skin. It settled her, though, relaxing muscles and turning white skin pink. The tub was deeper than the one she had at home, too, and Belle was able to submerge herself to her neck in the hot water. It was going to be awful going back home to her real life and her bathroom that was full of Spider-man brand body wash after this. She took a deep breath and stretched out, closing her eyes and letting the warm water ease her confusion.

She was back in her home, now, but it was cleaner than usual. Belle wondered briefly where Bae was when suddenly Arthur was there, too. He was wearing the same suit he'd worn the first time he came to dinner (the same suit he'd been wearing the time she had kissed him, she remembered), but his cane was gone.

"What are you doing here?" she said. There was no reason for him to be there if Bae wasn't as well.

"I came for you," he said and his voice had the same strange quality to it that it had earlier after she'd kissed his cheek.

Before she could ask what he meant by that, he had her pinned against the wall, his hands stronger than she had thought they would be as they moved up and down her body. She felt completely limp but it didn't matter, because he was holding her up and his lips were on hers and that was the important thing. He cupped her breasts and she gave a groan of wanting. It had been too long since she'd been touched by a man – longer than she cared to think about, really. His leg was between hers and she was surprised at how much she wanted him. She hadn't ever spared a thought to Arthur as a bed partner, and yet the idea of him here thrilled her.

Somehow, her legs were around his hips and he was grinding against her. He was panting in her ear and she wanted him so bad it hurt.

"Arthur," she groaned his name, because she didn't have words for what she needed from him.

He understood, though. Of course he would understand her, it was silly of her to have thought he wouldn't. He'd always been so good to her. She didn't know how he did it, but suddenly he was lining himself up with her and preparing to take her against the wall. There was a banging at the door, but it could wait. This was something Belle needed more than anything else.

"Mom?" Bae was calling to her through the door, and Belle was still in the tub and the water had gone tepid.

"Yeah, Bae," Belle was disoriented and couldn't quite figure out what time it was or where _that_ had come from. "What do you need?"

"I have to pee," he whined.

"Use the other bathroom," she yelled back, covering her face and trying to calm herself down. She knew any wandering hands right now would find her wet in more ways than one, and she couldn't quite catch her breath. There was no way she was in any state to face a ten-year-old right now.

Bae whined and grumbled, but she heard him retreat from the door.

Oh God, this was insane. She wasn't a stranger to sex dreams, though they weren't exactly a regular occurrence. What was unnerving about this one, though, was that Arthur starred in it. That was entirely new. Once Belle's heart rate returned to normal and she thought she could face him if she accidentally came across him in the shared living area, she wrapped a towel around herself and darted into her bedroom.

There was still about a week and a half of this vacation left, surely it was just the close quarters that was giving her fits. Yes, that had to be it. Belle was an expert and compartmentalizing her home life from her sexual desires. It was disturbing, but not unreasonable, that the two might bleed together like this. She just had to remember who he was to her and everything would be fine. Besides, in a week and a half they would be back to their separate lives and Bae would be the only thing they had in common.


	13. Chapter 13

Anonymous said:

on the vacation, a strange man starts hitting on Belle (much to her dismay) so Gold comes in and saves the day by pretending to be her boyfriend/fiancé/husband and later apologizes like crazy.

Anonymous said:

not sure if you are still taking prompts for your rumbelle adoption verse, but I figured I'll just throw it out there: bae telling gold he'd like it if belle was seeing someone

**PLEASE NOTE:** I am submitting back chapters of this story right now, and have quite a few prompts saved for future installments. Feel free to comment with prompts you want to see filled, but don't be surprised if they don't happen for awhile/if they've already happened and we just haven't gotten that far yet.

* * *

Gold was usually the first one awake in the mornings. He was a bit of an early riser by habit anyway, but since they'd been in the hotel he'd been sleeping even less than usual (he generally attributed this to his excitement over spending time with Belle and Bae). It was actually a fairly pleasant routine. He would order room service and spend the morning reading the paper. Belle and Bae would drift in at some point, although it varied as to who would wake up first, and they would make plans for the day. Judging from the late night they'd had, and the fact that she had stayed up extra late, he anticipated spending this morning with his son.

On entering the shared living area, though, he was surprised to find Belle already sitting at the table wearing a bathrobe and sipping on a mug of coffee. She didn't notice him right away, too focused on the book she'd been reading all week. He wasn't sure how to alert her to his presence without startling her, but he also didn't want her to think he'd been watching her. And, he realized, the longer he stood in the doorway thinking about it the creepier he was being. He finally decided to pull the door closed behind him as though he'd just walked through it.

"Good morning, Belle," he said as casually as possible.

Belle jumped a little, glancing up from her book at him with a strange look on her face.

"Good morning, Arthur," she replied, her gaze darting back to her novel.

"Did you sleep well? Sweet dreams?"

She made an odd choking noise and was he just imagining the scarlet blush that swept across her neck and the visible portion of her chest?

"I couldn't quite sleep, no," she replied. "Too much on my mind."

"Anything I should know about?"

No, he definitely wasn't imagining it – she was blushing.

"Nothing important," she replied. "Just excited to go to the city for the Fourth."

"Sick of the beach already?" he said teasingly.

"Oh God, no!" she replied. "I'm sorry, I'm just...it was a long night."

She said the last with an apologetic smile.

"Belle, I was teasing" he said. "Are you sure you're alright?"

She didn't answer right away and he didn't have the heart to force her to respond.

"How about we start over?" he offered.

"Please," she replied, sounding relieved.

He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Good morning, Belle, you look lovely this morning," he said in a slightly theatrical voice. "How's your book?"

"It is getting very sad," she replied. "But it's so well written I'm not sure if I can care."

"What book is it?" he asked. She held it up to show him the cover. "_The Age of Innocence_? You're reading Wharton on vacation?"

"It could be worse," she pointed out. "I could be reading Kate Chopin."

"Touche. Although you don't seem the sort to swim out into the ocean and not return. I don't think I've seen you go in past your shins yet."

"Maybe I have been spending a bit too much time in the sand," she conceded. "You just have no idea how much of a luxury it is for me to be able to read multiple chapters of the same book at a time. Usually I'm skimming on my phone while in line to pick him up from practice."

He wasn't quite sure what to say to that, he never was when she mentioned a sacrifice she'd made for motherhood. She didn't seem to resent Bae which would have been cause for concern, but he could tell that a part of her missed these little luxuries. He'd never had to sacrifice anything for another person in his entire life. He'd certainly never had to dedicate himself entirely to parenting like that. He wanted to ask her about it, to try to understand her reasons for giving up her twenties to raising a child, why she'd forgo her hobbies and interests like that. But she seemed strained today, and it wasn't the time for a heart to heart. The poor woman needed a nap, if anything, and he was on the verge of suggesting it when Bae's door opened and the boy emerged.

"Has the lady been up with breakfast yet?" he asked, coming over to sit at the table with his parents.

"No, I'm sorry sweetheart," Belle said. "I forgot to order it and then I think I distracted your dad."

"So no waffles?" Bae said, sounding disappointed.

Belle looked like she was on the verge of apologizing, but Gold decided to save her.

"I have an idea," he interjected. "Instead of having breakfast in the room why don't we put on our bathing suits and go get something at the diner on the pier? Then we can go swimming right afterward."

"Okay!" Bae sounded excited at the novelty of breakfast out. "I'll go put my suit on."

Breakfast ended up being a nice outing, Bae being in a particularly cheerful mood this morning which seemed to bring his mother out of some of her funk. Gold still had no idea what that had all been about, but he was relieved to see it passing seemingly as quickly as it had come. Belle wasn't generally prone to moodiness; if anything he would call her over laid back. When it came to their son, that was probably a good thing since he was very aware that he tended towards panic where Bae was concerned. In general, they struck a good balance.

She was still avoiding eye contact, though, which he found odd. He didn't think anything strange had happened at their dinner last night. Belle had always been prone to touching him since the day they first met – she was a physical person and he'd learned not to read too much into that – so it seemed odd that she might be acting strange over holding his hand and kissing his cheek. On the plus side, her strange behavior had left her absolutely fixated on their son. Usually, when he was around she would quietly defer to his need to pay attention to Bae and keep to herself. He hadn't ever gotten to see her when she was entirely absorbed in parenting before. It suited her, he thought. Her entire bearing changed when she was talking to her son even if it was just about the merits of syrup versus honey as a pancake topping. She seemed honestly delighted by everything he said or did, and Gold found he was content to watch them talk and tease.

After breakfast, the small family walked straight down to the beach. Belle once again laying out with Edith Wharton to keep her company while Bae dashed down to the surf. Gold followed his son at a slower pace, but soon they were ensconced hip-deep in the water playing a makeshift game involving splashing each other while simultaneously avoiding being splashed.

"Was last night a date?" Bae suddenly asked his father after a few minutes of playing.

"Why would you think that?"

"You guys were all dressed up and you went out alone," Bae pointed out. "And mom has only ever gone out like that the one time with Coach Tillman."

"No," Gold said. "It wasn't a date, son. Your mom and I are just friends. We're trying to get to know each other better so we can be better parents to you."

"What do you mean?"

"We both love you very much, Bae, but we don't know each other very well so it's kind of hard sometimes to know how to handle certain things like you staying over with me or me paying for you guys to do things. So we're trying to become better friends so we can handle those things easier. It's...kind of like dating, I guess, except there's no romance. We're not going to be together like that."

"Why not?" Bae asked innocently, and Gold wasn't sure he had a good answer.

"Because," he stalled, "our relationship with you has to be the most important thing and changing that could risk our ability to be a family for you."

Ha! That was a perfectly legitimate answer which completely side-stepped the fact that he was fairly sure he was completely smitten with her.

"But you're both lonely," Bae continued, "all the time. And you both love me and you get along together."

"There's more to relationships than that," Gold explained. "It takes a lot of work for two people to be together and it's always a risk. Neither one of us is willing to take a chance on your happiness."

Bae looked away for a moment and another thought occurred to Gold.

"Why? Do you want us to date?"

"Well," Bae bit his lip in a manner that so much resembled Belle that his father could hardly stand it. "Sort of. I just want Mom to be happy. I think she spends too much time alone and you're the only guy she really seems to like being with."

"Your mom makes her own choices," Gold reminded Bae. "If she wanted to spend time with other men, she would."

Bae didn't respond, looking pensively towards the beach where his mother still sat. Gold splashed a bit of water in the boy's face, and was rewarded with a grin as the child launched himself at his father. Gold let himself be tackled, dragging Bae underwater before resurfacing. Still, though, his thoughts remained on Belle.

"Do you think we should invite Mom to play?" Bae asked after another round of splashing and dunking left both of them soggy and sputtering.

"We can," Gold acceded. "In fact, how about I go get her?"

Bae nodded enthusiastically, letting Gold walk off towards her. She usually would see him as he approached, but this time she gave no sign. He was confused until he got a little closer and realized why. There was a younger man standing not three feet away from Belle and attempting to chat her up. Belle was intensely focused on her book in an effort to avoid being sucked into conversation, but to no avail.

"So what room are you staying in?" the man asked her. Belle ignored him as much as she could, but he asked again and again until she was forced to answer.

"Why on Earth would I want to tell you that?"

"Oh come on," he replied. "I'll show you a great time."

"I highly doubt that."

Gold's first instinct was to confront the other man directly and insist he leave her alone, but the slightly more rational part of his brain reminded him there was really no need for that. A small rearranging of the actual facts would have this guy running off like a rat fleeing a sinking ship.

It was really more fun than it should have been to drop down onto the towel next to Belle with no preamble and press a quick kiss to the top of her head. She startled, and looked at him with confusion but didn't say anything, even when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, darling," he said with a wink, "our son has requested your presence in the water."

"Has he now?" Belle replied, closing her book over a bookmark and tucking it into one of her beach bags. "Well who am I to reject an invitation from my two favorite guys?"

"I'll just...leave you to it, then," the other man yelped, scurrying away to find some greener pasture to harass.

"Sorry," Gold said once he was out of earshot. "You didn't seem to be enjoying him and I thought this was the best way to make him leave."

"Oh no," Belle replied. "Trust me, any time you want to interrupt a meat head college student hitting on me I don't care how old and married you want to make us sound I'll still be grateful."

"I may hold you to that," he teased. It really didn't bear thinking about how much fun it had been to give in to the illusion of being together. "Either way, Bae wanted to invite you to play with us."

She held his gaze for a moment before rising to her feet and offering a hand to help him up.

"I think I may just take you up on that offer," she said sweetly. "It's been too long since I kicked that kid's butt."


	14. Chapter 14

ctdg said:

Adoption!verse: is there a chance we have another tiny little kiss between them at the end of the vacation? Maybe on the pier, the last evening, in front of a beautiful romantic twilight... ?

* * *

It was July third, and it was their last day at the beach. Belle was surprised at how much she was going to miss it. Tomorrow, they'd make the drive to NYC for the fourth, spend the night at a hotel, and then go to a cottage in upstate New York for another week. The cabin was supposed to be a practice run at keeping a household in a more traditional sense for when they returned home so Arthur would be better prepared for actual parenting. Theoretically, he'd been practicing this all week, though with varying amounts of success. Bae would usually comply with directions, but still defaulted to asking Belle for permission to do things even though she had maintained a steady policy of instructing him to ask his father. Hopefully, they had at least laid a groundwork for Arthur to be an authority figure in his own home if nothing else.

"Can't we just stay here another week?" Bae asked (yet again) as he and his father built a sandcastle while Belle provided suggestions and chatted with them. "What are we going to do in the woods for a whole week, anyway?"

Arthur looked on the verge of acquiescing, which she was fairly sure would always be a weakness of his where Bae was concerned. She raised her eyebrows at him when Bae wasn't looking and he deflated a little before answering.

"You'll have fun," he reassured their son. "There's a lake, for one thing, and we can go fishing there – we'll just have to set them back in the water after."

"But there's an entire ocean here!"

"And there's a boat at the lake," Arthur reminded Bae.

"Bae, stop pestering your father," Belle finally scolded. It seemed to be physically painful to Arthur to not be spoiling the child and Bae knew it and was taking advantage. "We're going to the woods and you're going to have fun. Anyway, you're most certainly not the one paying for this trip so you should be grateful your father wanted to do something nice for you."

Arthur seemed a little startled by her outburst, she rarely had to actually yell at Bae in front of him and had never scolded him for his treatment of his father before. On the one hand, it did indicate that Bae had become used to Arthur but on the other she hated to see his overwhelming need to please his son taken advantage of.

"I think you should apologize for acting like a brat," she continued when Bae just looked down at his hands and fidgeted in the sand.

"I'm sorry, Dad," the boy mumbled.

Arthur looked completely stricken, knowing he needed to be on Belle's side but completely unsure of how to handle being the source of his son's discomfort. Belle just held his gaze levelly, this would not work unless they were a team and part of that was backing each other up.

"It's alright, son," he finally said. "You'll have a great time at the cabin and we can always come back next year."

Bae nodded a little and forced a smile. He hated being scolded, especially in front of people, but if he was comfortable enough with Arthur to beg like that then he should damn well be prepared to be yelled at in front of him as well.

The silence became awkward as Bae sulked and dug in the sand quietly. Arthur was about to crack, she could see it. He was going to give in to whatever Bae wanted to make him cheer back up. No, that wasn't going to work. She had raised this boy for ten years and he was not about to turn into a spoiled brat because he suddenly had a father who could afford to buy him nice things.

She moved closer to the sand castle father and son had been working on, picking up a shovel and quietly digging out a moat.

"You know what?" she said to nobody in particular, "I think this castle needs seashells."

"Yeah?" Arthur replied, clearly happy for the distraction from his discomfort.

"I do," she replied. "If we got enough little ones and broken pieces we could make the outer wall resistant to attack and the big ones would be good decorations for the buttresses and sides of the castle."

Arthur hummed as if considering her statement, and Bae had become distracted from his poor mood and was watching his parents as they discussed designs for the castle.

"If we found some really good ones," Arthur finally said. "We could pave the paths, too."

"That's a really good point," Belle replied, packing sand from the moat down into her bucket. "Bae, do you want to go see if you can find seashells while your dad and I work on this or would you rather I did it?"

"No, that's okay," he said, scrambling to his feet. "I'm kind of hot anyway."

Belle smiled at him in thanks as Bae took a bucket and dashed down to the surf to dunk himself in the water before he began scouring the shallows for shells for his parents.

"Well," she said as soon as Bae was out of earshot, "you held up a lot better than I thought you would under that kind of pressure."

He grimaced but continued to dig the moat.

"He's getting more comfortable with you, if that helps any," she added.

"I know," he sighed. "It's just so hard. I have no idea how to handle that. I was damn close to offering to move us out here – if you hadn't been here I just might have."

"Well then it's a good thing I was here, because I am not moving to New Jersey for you or any man."

He smiled a bit at that, glancing up at her before continuing the moat.

"I'm sure I could make a tempting offer, for one thing think of how much well Bae has been sleeping since we got here."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn't maintain even fake annoyance in the wake of his teasing.

"Regardless," she replied, flipping her bucket over onto the wide base of the castle to make a turret. "I am rather fond of the climate in Maine."

"You mean rainy and cold?"

"Yep, rainy and cold. Like God intended."

"You're Australian," he pointed out.

"And I ended up in Maine," she said smugly. "What does that tell you?"

He just smiled at her and shook his head disbelievingly.

"You're a strange woman, Belle French."

"Says the man who I know for a fact owns Spider-man boxers."

He glanced at her with shock on his face.

"How could you possibly know about that?"

"I've been spying on you in your bushes," she replied perfectly deadpan. "No, actually you just left them on top of the bathroom hamper last time you had us over."

He buried his face in his hands, hiding the broad smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.

"You really almost had me with the bushes," he confessed. "Good lord I'm never letting you in my bathroom again if you're going to snoop."

"Well I'll just have to take to your bushes then, won't I?" she said with a wink.

Bae returned with his bucket of shell fragments for the walls, proudly pouring them onto the sand so he and his father could begin covering Belle's tower with the tiny pieces.

The three worked in relative silence for awhile, but this time it was companionable rather than stifling. Once the castle was assembled, Belle found a nearby family who was willing to loan a parent to take a photo of the three of them posing with their hard work, and then Gold took a series of photos of Bae demolishing said work, as well as his body completely encrusted with sand afterward.

They spent the next hour or so playing a modified version of keep-away from Bae, tossing a ball back and forth in the water until all three were worn out. They then adjourned to their room to wash up before returning to the pier for one final evening and one more awful deep fried meal.

"He really is grateful to be on this trip," Belle whispered to Arthur as Bae wandered around the perimeter eating his food and tossing the occasional fry to the fish that swam below.

They were sitting near the place they had lost him earlier that week, though this time she noticed that Arthur's eyes darted over to Bae nearly constantly and that Bae was careful to keep in view of both parents, not leaving a small area between the end of the pier and the trash bins that he seemed to have decided was his.

"I'm grateful you both came," Arthur said softly. "It's hard not to envy you his company, but I do appreciate that you went to every length you could to make this easier for all of us."

"You're his father, what else was I supposed to do?"

"You could have poisoned him against me completely," he pointed out. "There is no way that child would ever love anyone who hurt you."

"That would have been completely counter-productive for everyone," she reminded him again. They'd had this conversation before and honestly, he didn't need to thank her for allowing him to be affectionate towards his own son. Bae's love was something he should be able to take for granted was his.

"Still, I wanted to thank you," he said as he reached into a pocket and removed a small parcel.

"Did you get me a present?" she fake scolded. It was against their rules to get _presents_ for each other, after all.

"It's a souvenir," he corrected. "It hardly counts. And anyway, it wasn't expensive it just reminded me of you."

He handed her the paper and she unwrapped it carefully to reveal a blue and green bracelet. It was a series of small squares inlaid with blue and green sea glass, tiny shells, and beads that caught the twilight beautifully. She turned it over in her hands a few times, admiring the craftsmanship that must have gone into it. It was clearly handmade, not something he picked up at one of the tourist traps along the beach.

"Where did you find this?" she asked him softly.

"It wasn't hard," he replied. "There's a lady who makes them locally and sells them through one of the boutiques."

He'd been in her company damn near every minute of every day unless one of them was asleep. He must have made a special trip to find her this bracelet first thing in the morning before she woke up one day. This wasn't something he found on a whim – he had no reason in the world to be going into one of the high-end boutiques that dotted the shore and catered to the wealthy locals except to buy something for her. Belle wasn't sure what to make of his attention, still staring down at the bracelet in her hand.

"Do you like it?" he sounded nervous and she realized she'd been quiet for a long time.

"I love it," she said, offering him a smile. "It's beautiful, thank you."

"I'm glad," he seemed relieved, taking the bracelet out of her hands and gesturing towards her wrist. "May I?"

She nodded and held out her arm, letting him fasten the clasp and adjust the chain so that it sat perfectly against her skin. It sparkled, the glass picking up the last rays of light.

"The blue reminded me of your eyes," he confessed, still holding onto her wrist and looking at the bracelet.

Her body was on high alert. She wanted to say something to diffuse the tension that she felt coming off of him like electricity before a storm, but another part of her needed to know where he was going with this. She'd been half on edge since her dream the other night, and maybe it was her overactive imagination or the fact that she hadn't been this close to a man in ten years, but Belle was aching for him to keep touching her. His fingers were tracing the outline of her bracelet and she wasn't sure he realized he was doing it, but the gesture still raised goosebumps up and down her body all the same.

"Why did you do all this?" she finally asked, not just meaning the bracelet but the entire trip right down to his touching her now and the way he sometimes almost preened under her attention. Something was changing between them and it was terrifying and new and oh so wanted.

"I just thought the mother of my child deserved something special," he said with a sweet little half grin that had her stomach in knots. "Something to remember the trip by, at least."

He bowed his head to her hand and suddenly his lips were on the pulse point of her wrist, in the open space between the square charms provided by the clasp. Her every nerve tingled as he did it, and suddenly she felt like her entire body was on fire. She'd not dated anyone seriously since Bae had come into her life, but Belle had never wanted a man to touch her quite as badly as she wanted Arthur Gold to never release her wrist ever again. His head was bowed in supplication over her hand for just a few seconds, but the brand of his lips on her skin remained after he lifted his head up shyly, as though afraid to make eye contact. She had kissed and been kissed (she'd even kissed him), but this feeling was new. She had never felt so cared for as when bent over her hand.

The tension between them was palpable, and she knew that whatever this was it was so delicate that the smallest thing would break it – yet, Belle was powerless to even try. She opened her mouth, meaning to speak, but couldn't think of words and so she let her mouth close again. Her lips were slightly parted and she knew it was an invitation to kiss her, but damn she needed it. She needed him. She _needed_.

"Hey Mom!" Bae called out from his place near the railing. "Guess what!"

Arthur dropped her hand like she was contagious and Belle leapt to her feet and dashed over to her son before either one could acknowledge what had almost happened.

"What's up, Bae?"

"The rays will eat fries, too!"

"Okay, but I think they're supposed to eat fish so how about you don't give them too many potatoes, yeah?"

Bae nodded, turning back to the bench and nearly skipping over to tell his father what he'd just done. Belle took a moment to watch them, Arthur returning effortlessly to the role of doting father. If he spared more than a few glances towards his child's mother standing alone on the pier as the child in question regaled him with a tale of aquatic life, then that was something the mother was just going to have to figure out on her own.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.


	15. Chapter 15

Anonymous said:

Adoption!verse: Bae wants to see one of the huge fireworks displays out of to town on the Fourth. Somewhere like Washington DC or Philadelphia.

Accio-firewhiskey said:

Also, here's an idea, have you considered Belle trying to meet up with an old friend in NYC while Bae and Gold do their own thing for an afternoon?

Bae had never been to New York, apparently. It hadn't occurred to Gold that his son had never been into the city, but now that he thought about it he wasn't sure why he would have assumed the boy had been. Belle was solidly middle class, but with just the two of them money was always an issue. Of course she'd not seen a point in taking Bae to the city just for the sake of going.

Gold made a mental note to see about surprising them with a second trip sometime. Maybe this Christmas they could catch something on Broadway – _Beauty & The Beast_ or _The Lion King_ seemed like safe choices with a kid. He'd have to ask Belle about it later. Thankfully, this time Bae seemed perfectly content to marvel at the tall buildings and the crush of people.

Belle had made plans to meet up with an old friend for lunch, leaving Gold with a blissful two hours of unsupervised parental time. He had big plans to buy his son pizza and maybe ice cream.

"Alright," Belle said. "Bae, be good for your dad. I'll meet back up with you guys after lunch."

And with that and a quick wave, Belle disappeared into a posh cafe leaving father and son alone on the street.

"So," Gold said, keeping his hand safely on the back of Bae's collar to prevent him wandering off. "Pizza?"

Bae nodded enthusiastically, trying to dart ahead of his father only to come up short when his shirt stretched out.

"You're going to have to stay with me," Gold reminded his son.

Bae nodded, but Gold kept a hand on him all the same as they found a pizza place and took a seat.

"Was there anything special you wanted to see today?" Gold asked.

Bae thought for a moment, searching for an answer.

"I don't know," he finally said. "I don't know what's here."

"Everything," Gold said with a chuckle. "Everything is in the city."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Hmmm..." Gold thought for a minute.

They'd be seeing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island later on with Belle (followed by the fireworks), and didn't have time before they met back up with Belle to do that anyway. There were museums, but again he felt like that would be something Belle wouldn't want to skip. There had to be something he could do with a ten-year-old in Manhattan for a couple hours. And then, inspiration struck.

"What would you say if I told you that the best toy store in the world was a few blocks away?"

Bae's face lit up with excitement at the prospect, and Gold suddenly had a really good feeling about the rest of the afternoon.

It was nice having lunch like this, just two adults and no child. Ariel was one of Belle's best friends from college. She'd moved to NYC not long after graduation, and was one of the few people in Belle's life who had never known her as a mom. The two had kept in touch on Facebook, but it had been ages since either one had been able to visit. When Belle had let Ariel know she'd be in town with her son and his father, the bubbly redhead had jumped at the chance to spend an hour or so catching up with her old friend.

"So how are things going with you and the baby daddy, anyway?" Ariel asked between bites of her salad. "Still awkward as hell?"

"No, actually we've sort of reached a nice agreement," Belle replied. "He comes over for dinner most nights and Bae spends all day Saturday over there, then I pick him up after brunch on Sunday. If either one of us has something special on an off day, he's always been willing to switch things around. Bae loves him, and he's so good with Bae, too. He's actually paying for this whole trip for both of us." She was gushing and she knew it, but she couldn't quite stop herself. "It's kind of nice having him around. He's as interested in Bae things as I am – we talk every single night about him. We just get along really, really well, you know? We just kind of clicked."

"Okay..." Ariel was giving Belle a strange look as she wound down her monologue about the virtues of Bae's father. "And how long have you been sleeping with him?"

"_What?!_" Belle exclaimed, coming damn close to choking on her sandwich. "I'm not sleeping with him!"

"Well, you're going to be soon, apparently," Ariel was staring at her in disbelief and Belle could feel her cheeks turning pink. "I've known you since college. I'm the one who introduced you to George! You have _never_ spoken about a man the way you were just talking about Arthur. Face it, you're completely into him."

"I...no I'm...you're...no!" Belle couldn't come up with anything much more eloquent than that, unfortunately. "You're reading too much into this. We're just friends."

"Friends who want to sleep together, maybe."

"It's just complicated, okay?"

"Complicated how?"

"We share a son, and we have to get along for at least another 8 years. The rest of our lives would be preferable."

"Okay, I get that whole co-parenting thing you've got going on, but answer me this: are you attracted to him?"

Belle didn't respond right away, her dream from the other night was still fresh enough in her head to give her pause.

"Oh my God, you are!" Ariel shrieked. "What happened?"

"I had a dream about him the other night – a sex dream," Belle buried her face in her hands at the admission as her friend stared at her.

"That's not that bad, Belle," Ariel tried to comfort her. "You can't control your dreams, after all."

"I know," Belle groaned miserably. "I just don't know what to do with this."

"You're probably just having a dry spell," Ariel replied. "When was the last time you had sex, anyway?"

"Uh, ten years or so ago."

Ariel blinked rapidly at the admission.

"_Ten years?!_" she screeched. "You haven't had sex in _ten years_?"

"Yes, and if you'd keep your voice down I'd prefer the entire restaurant didn't know."

"I'm sorry, but still! Have you dated at all since you ended things with George?"

"I've been on dates," she had been on exactly six first dates and one second date. "I just didn't click with any of them."

"Jeeze, Belle, no wonder you're having impure thoughts. Your libido must be freaking out."

Actually, it wasn't. That was something Belle had a hard time explaining to people. She didn't seem to need sex the same way other people did, even in college. She still wanted it, and she found other men attractive and was no stranger to sex dreams (Bae's obsession with Marvel movies did mean that Steve Rogers was a disturbingly frequent imaginary sex partner), but she didn't want to have sex with someone just because it had been awhile. She hated dating, and found the expectation of sex sometime around the third date to be completely mood killing. She liked to know a man before she involved herself with him that way. How well could you really know someone after three dates with the intention of impressing each other?

Still, though, maybe Ariel was right. Maybe she just needed a distraction and things could go back to the way they were before the vacation. What was it Ruby had always said in college? _The best way to get over a man is to get under a new one._ The most disturbing thing about this was the implication that in order to get _over_ Arthur she at one time had to have been _on_ him.

"It's a lot harder meeting guys as an adult," Belle explained. "Even worse when you have a kid. Everyone you meet is either because of your child or terrified of him. It's awkward."

Ariel looked sympathetic, but didn't reply right away.

"I did go on a date with his basketball coach," Belle continued. "It didn't go well, though. No chemistry."

"That doesn't mean you just stop dating anyone. Some guys you won't have anything in common with and you just move on from those."

"You're right," Belle sighed. Sometimes she wished she had a little more experience dating. The older she got, the more she was expected to have and the more awkward it was that she had so little. What was she going to do when Bae started asking questions about girls? Well, she supposed now she could refer him to his father but something about that rubbed her the wrong way. She didn't like thinking about Arthur having experience with other women. She wasn't sure when the idea had bothered her – they had literally met because he had fathered her child with another woman, for goodness sake – but at some point it had.

The rest of the meal went smoother. They discussed Ariel's new job and Belle caught Ariel up on people they'd gone to school with. By the time they were done with lunch, Arthur and Bae were waiting outside for her and holding bags reading FAO Schwarz. She couldn't quite ignore Ariel's knowing grin on seeing the pair of them, but she did her best.

"Wow, so somebody did some shopping," Belle said to Bae. "Did your dad get you games for the cabin?"

"Yeah!" Bae exclaimed excitedly. "We got board games, and bongos, and a telescope..."

Belle's eyes went wide with horror and she turned on Arthur.

"You bought our son _bongos_?!"

"...and a telescope," he said sheepishly. He seemed to be aware of the critical error he'd made, and she should probably go easier on him because she knew that he was damn near incapable of saying no to the kid, but holy crap he bought her son bongos.

"Well," Belle said as calmly as she could manage with the knowledge that her _ten-year-old now possessed a set of bongos_. "Congratulations, Bae, you now have your first toy that exclusively lives at your dad's house."

"I probably deserve that," Arthur admitted as Bae rooted around in his bag to show his mother the much discussed bongos.

"Yes," Belle replied. "You do."

Ariel clearing her throat brought Belle back to the task at hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Belle exclaimed. "Ariel, this is my son Bailey and his father, Arthur Gold. Bae, Arthur, this is my friend Ariel Finn from college."

Hands were shook all around and Belle couldn't help but be a little proud of Bae's manners as he politely greeted Ariel. They made small talk for a few minutes before Ariel made her excuses of having been away from work too long already and left the small family to their own devices.

"We can at least drop these at the hotel before we do anymore sight-seeing," Arthur said. He still sounded apologetic over the poor toy selection and Belle couldn't help but feel a little bad for making him think she was upset with him.

Belle nodded in agreement, her mind still caught on her earlier discussion with Ariel. She liked Arthur, that much was obvious. Maybe she was just confusing her affection for him for a crush because she'd been alone so long. Or maybe she wasn't confused and Ariel was right. He was the only man she ever spent any significant amount of time with outside of work, feelings were bound to come up at some point.

Still, though, he was outside of her reach even if she did want him just by virtue of their existing relationship, never mind the fact that he was older and wealthier and more experienced than she was. Arthur had lived a far more interesting life than hers, and they inhabited different worlds. His was a world of nice hotels and cultural activities, and hers was soccer practice and romance novels in the bathtub. She sometimes thought he might have feelings for her as well, but she'd never been good at picking up on that sort of thing in the past and couldn't trust herself now. She felt like she might be going crazy.

"Something wrong?" Arthur whispered to her as they approached the hotel where their suitcases had been delivered earlier.

She shook her head, half to reassure him she was fine and half to clear her thoughts.

"No, I'm fine," she replied. "I just still can't believe you bought him bongos."

"He asked for them," Arthur explained weakly. "I think he's figured out I'm a pushover."

"If it makes you feel better," Belle said taking his arm and giving it a comforting squeeze. "The Christmas he was five, his Uncle Tiny gave him a toy fire engine that had a real siren and lights and you could put water in it and then it would spray out the hose if you pumped this little handle."

He winced sympathetically.

"That sounds awful," he replied. "What did you do?"

"It mysteriously ran out of batteries within a week. Did you know fire engines take special batteries you can't get at the grocery store?"

Arthur laughed at that, shooting her a wry look.

"You're a devious woman, Miss French."

"I did what I had to do to survive," she said smugly. "Still, though, rookie mistake, Gold."

"If it's really going to live at my house I'm sure I'll live to regret it."

"Oh I am sure you will," she replied with a wink. "Be sure to let me know how well he's progressing with them."

He laughed at himself, and for a moment Belle forgot her confusion. This was what she loved about having him around, after all. These little shared moments of intimacy and mirth. He was the best friend she'd had in years, and she hated that everything else was getting in the way of that.


	16. Chapter 16

Anonymous said:

Hey! Don't know for how long our lovely adoption!verse family will be on vacation but I figured this prompt will fit either way. I would like to see Bailey asking his father sth like: "mom is pretty, isn't she?" while Belle is in the earshot.

Woodelf68 said:

Don't know if this could work, but adoption 'verse prompt: There's a mix-up at the next hotel & only one room is available. With one bed, & they can provide a roll-away cot. Belle refuses to let Gold take the cot, because of his bad leg; Bae says he'll take it 'cos he's the smallest and will be the most comfortable on it, while they share the bed.

"What do you mean you lost our reservation?" Gold said harshly. He could see the poor girl at the desk was beginning to become nervous, but he just couldn't accept this. "I made them weeks ago."

"I'm very sorry, sir," she said apologetically, clicking frantically through her computer. "We've been insanely busy with the holiday."

"The holiday happens every year," he reminded her. This was not good at all.

Belle was kind enough to take Bae off to examine the lobby once he had begun to lose his temper. Bless her, he didn't want to scare his child but this was insane. It took a little arguing and the summoning of the manager, but finally a room was located that would work – two queen beds and a cot – it would be awkward, but for one night it could work.

"Well, I have good news and I have bad news," he told Belle and Bae as he approached them after hashing things out with the manager. "The good news is they've found a room."

"And the bad news?" Belle asked.

"We'll have to share. It's got two queen beds, and they can lend us a cot."

"Oh, that's not so bad," she said with a shrug. "We've slept in tighter quarters."

Bae nodded in agreement. The room wouldn't be ready for another hour or so, but they were able to leave their shopping bags with their suitcases and go back out for further sight-seeing. He was itching to see how Belle liked the museums, and the fact that he was desperate to impress her with this trip was a very unwelcome thought which he was certainly not going to dwell on.

Still, though, it was nice to be able to share this with them. Bae was as well behaved as one could expect from a little boy on a family vacation, which is to say he did not get them kicked out of anything (for which he was handsomely rewarded with souvenirs), but Belle seemed to find everything fascinating. She was pouring over the guides, trying to engage Bae in discussions of the paintings, and generally seemed to be having a brilliant time of it.

Even Bae seemed to pick up on his mother's good mood, and his behavior improved dramatically as the time went on. Instead of fidgeting, he took to standing back by his father watching his mother as she enjoyed the art. He was indulging her, Gold realized. The boy was taking his father's cue and letting his mother spend as much time in her reverie as she wanted.

Gold squeezed Bae's shoulder affectionately as both watched Belle lecture them on the history of another painting, her eyes lighting up joyously as she pointed out brush strokes and techniques. He couldn't help but think back to her telling him that she'd envied people with a passion, and he wondered then if she even realized how much she really enjoyed this sort of thing. Maybe she'd like to take painting classes, if he could convince her to take one night off a week, anyway. Perhaps if he said they were from Bae...

Still, though, maybe it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to come back for Christmas. Maybe get a babysitter for Bae again and let her spend an entire day running through the museums and lecturing him on the difference between Rococo and Baroque styles.

Bae wasn't stupid. He might just be a kid, but he could tell something weird was going on with his dad and his mom. He just didn't know what yet. He was pretty sure his dad liked his mom, at least a little. That made sense, though – Mom was kind of pretty in a mom-like way (Nick and August thought she was pretty, anyway, and Bae'd had to punch them a couple times each for saying things like that), and he knew his dad was kind of lonely. Mom was lonely, too, she just handled it differently. When Dad was lonely (which was all the time) he wanted to come over and do things together, but Mom liked to pretend like she wasn't lonely at all. She just worked too much or would suddenly want to rearrange the living room or take up baking (that one he didn't mind so much). Still, though, Bae could tell she was lonely.

He was pretty glad she was happy right now, though. Something had changed over vacation and he wasn't really sure what it was yet and of course nobody was going to tell _him_ because he was ten. But he could figure it out. He just had to keep his eyes open. For example, Dad was way too interested in watching Mom look at the paintings right now. Bae was watching her, too, she wasn't that interesting. She was just talking about history and artwork and symbolism and stuff. Plus Dad had this weird dopey smile on his face. He was pretty sure he knew what that meant, he'd seen it in movies a lot. That was the face they always made when the girl showed up the first time.

It was kind of weird thinking about his mom as a _girl,_ but he then again she probably was to his dad. They were about the same age, he guessed. He didn't really know how old his dad was but they were both old enough to be his parents, so that was pretty much the same age. They were going to be really difficult about this, he could tell. Well, there was still a week of vacation left. They had time.

His mom was looking at his dad now, and she was smiling and they were talking about the artist, and it was pretty dull. But she was still smiling, and it was weird because she didn't smile at guys like that. She didn't smile like that at all. Maybe, Bae realized, it wasn't just Dad liking Mom anymore.

After they watched his mom look at some more pictures, Dad said it was time for dinner and Mom agreed. It still took another half hour to get out of the museum, though. Mom kept getting distracted and wanting to show both of them new stuff all the time. Still, she was his mom. He had to love her.

"Hey Dad?" he whispered once when she was turned and looking at a statue of a lady with no clothes on.

"Yeah?" his dad said, leaning down so Bae could whisper in his ear.

"Doesn't Mom look pretty?"

He thought his dad's eyes might have popped out of his head but he didn't say anything. He just kept looking back and forth between Bae and his mom with his mouth hanging open, like he couldn't quite figure out what Bae had meant.

Yeah, Dad liked Mom. He might just need a little bit of encouragement to get his nerve up if anything was going to happen.

Belle and Bae saw fireworks every year, but she'd never seen them over the Statue of Liberty and that, she had to admit, was pretty neat. The water reflected the lights beautifully and Arthur had, of course, gotten them a seat on one of the boats that went out towards the statue. She should have guessed, nothing was ever too much for him to splurge for Bae. It was kind of sweet, actually. Still, with the crush of people and the boat needing to dock and Arthur's limp and their exhausted child (and getting lost once or twice), it was really, really late by the time they finally got back to the hotel and saw their room for the first time.

There was only one bed plus the cot.

Well, shit.

"They said there was a second bed," Arthur said dumbly. "There were supposed to be two beds. I can go back down and get them to move us."

Belle knew that was the right call, but her entire body protested. It had been a long day, Bae was near to collapsing, all their bags were here, and she just wanted to go to sleep.

"Don't bother," she finally said. "They barely had _this_ room available. And it's late. I doubt there are any that aren't being used."

"You're right," Arthur agreed. "I'll sleep on the cot, you two can share the bed."

They both looked at the cot, which was shorter than the bed and had a thinner mattress. He'd been limping worse than usual on the way up, and leaning more heavily on the cane. He still had to drive them up to the cabin tomorrow and there was no way he was going to be able to do that if he slept on that thing. He'd been pushing himself too hard already.

"No," she stopped him. "I'm shorter than you, I'll take the cot."

Except that left the matter of where Bae would sleep. As much a family as they were, it still felt a little awkward having her ten-year-old share a bed with a grown man they'd both only met a few months ago. Arthur seemed to agree, glancing back and forth between them as if trying to put that exact thing into words.

"I'll take the cot," Bae mumbled sleepily from his position leaning against her heavily with his face buried in her side. "I'm the smallest, so I'll be the most comfortable. You two share the bed."

"Oh, sweetie," she said. "That's really nice of you, but your dad and I can't share a bed."

"Why not?"

"We're both grown-ups," she explained. "Grown-ups don't really share beds unless they're married."

"You share a bed with Aunt Ruby whenever we go anywhere with her. And Aunt Ruby shared a bed with her last boyfriend."

The kid had a point, but still. How could she explain the various types of relationships adults had and which ones were 'allowed' to share a bed? That wasn't even getting into same-sex relationships and oh God it was way too late to be having this conversation. She was just so damn tired.

"Your mom is right," Arthur interrupted. "It's not really appropriate for me to share a bed with either of you."

And now they were back to him sleeping on the cot, which frankly was not an option at all.

"No," she said softly. "It's fine. We can share the bed. I'll sleep over the covers or something."

"Belle," he tried to argue with her, but Bae put a stop to it by wandering over to the cot and dropping onto it like a stone. He barely even kicked his shoes off before he was snoring. That kid could sleep through a tornado.

"Honestly," she said. "It's not a big deal. It's just a bed, right? And it's certainly big enough that you'd never know I was there."

He smiled a little at that, staring intensely at the bed as though he were a little afraid it might suddenly sprout teeth and bite him.

"I don't think that I'd forget," he muttered. "I'll sleep on the floor. I don't mind."

"I do," she said reassuringly. "You and I both know you've been pushing yourself all week. If you don't sleep in a bed there's no way we're getting up to the cabin tomorrow, which means another day in this hotel room. Anyway, there's no room on the floor with the cot."

He didn't try to argue that point, but she could tell he wished she hadn't noticed he was hurting himself.

"Really, Arthur, we're both adults. I think we can handle one night in the same bed."

He nodded finally, accepting her logic even though he obviously still wanted to argue.

"One night," he agreed.

_Thank God for matronly nightgowns_, Gold thought to himself as Belle tentatively climbed into the bed. She was covered from breastbone to knees with a thick cotton jersey material. It was sleeveless, but honestly she was more covered in that than in most of her sundresses. Plus this was entirely shapeless, leaving the swell of her breasts and the curve of her waist largely to the imagination. That might be his one salvation tonight if he wanted to get any sleep at all. He hadn't shared a bed with another person in a long, long time and he was willing to bet that, aside from sleepovers with her friend Ruby and Bae climbing into her bed after a nightmare, it had been even longer for Belle.

After he took his turn in the bathroom to change and brush his teeth, there was really nothing to do but get into bed with her. It was the longest walk of his life. He felt like he was on his way to the electric chair. How the hell was he going to get any sleep with her being soft and warm and _in bed with him_? It just didn't seem possible at all.

True to her word, Belle had settled on top of the sheets but under the quilt. He didn't know why, but the thin barrier between them made him feel a little better about the whole thing. And why on Earth was he so worried? Was he afraid she was going to molest him in the night? Oh, no that was _not_ the direction to take his thoughts in. Not at all.

They could have fit a third person between them, both as close to the edge of the bed as they dared.

"Do you have enough room?" she asked timidly, glancing over at him across her pillow.

"Yeah," he said. "Do you?"

She nodded.

"That's good," he said. He felt so stupid.

He turned the light off, hoping if she couldn't see him he'd feel a little bit less like an idiot for even agreeing to this plan.

"Arthur?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for taking us here," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice. Her hand was moving across the blankets, and it found his and gave it a squeeze.

He closed his eyes tightly and forced his thoughts back to the present. They were just friends, he reminded himself. They had a family and they were just friends. She loved him the way she would have loved a sperm donor who suddenly appeared at her doorstep. That was the thought to focus on. They were nothing else to each other and this meant _nothing._

"You don't have to thank me," he replied. "I like taking you two places. You're the only family I've got."

"Still," she said. "You don't have to do these things. But you still went out of your way to make this a really memorable trip for both of us. Thank you."

He wanted to laugh. She was thanking him for taking her on a boat and to a museum. As if he wouldn't do literally anything she asked him to, take her anyplace her heart desired. It was surreal, the entire situation was beginning to take a toll on his sleep deprived brain.

"You're welcome," he finally said for lack of anything else to say.

She squeezed his hand one last time and then pulled hers back to her side of the bed. He could feel her roll over, but tried not to notice the way the bed sagged a little on that side or the tantalizing hint of warmth that was coming from over there. His son was in the room, after all. And she was Bae's mother.

He wasn't sure how he finally fell asleep that night, but thankfully he eventually did.


	17. Chapter 17

Queueingtocomplain said: So adoption!verse Belle and Gold are going to wake up cuddling, right? Right? And they both try to avoid talking about it, until Bae brings it up in conversation. Anonymousnerdgirl said: Adoption!verse: Gold takes Bae and Belle on vacation, to make the domestic setting more real he chooses a rustic cabin so they can set up a household of sorts. LITERALLY EVERYONE ON AO3 AND TUMBLR said: Hey can Belle wake up to a boner? Because we love boners. We're the Rumbelle fandom and we need more boners. BONERS! #follow for more erect penises!

* * *

Belle was warmer than usual, but it wasn't at all unpleasant. Quite the contrary, she was tempted to try to go back to sleep before she realized there was something heavy over her. That was when the events of the previous evening came back to her in a flash. She was warm because Arthur was behind her, and she was heavy because his arm was slung over hers. And something was poking her in the back.

Oh. Oh _God_.

Belle was celibate, not innocent. She had shared a bed with her ex in college. She knew it was a physiological reaction and had nothing to do with her even being there, but it was currently pressed up against her and she had no idea what to do next. Their current position meant that if she moved, he'd wake up and realize what was going on and the only thing more awkward than knowing this was happening would be having him know that she knew. He'd try to apologize and it really wasn't something she wanted to talk about. At the same time, Bae was still in the room (and boy, wasn't it a good idea to let him have the cot to himself now?) and she didn't want him to see his parents spooning in bed. Kids got ideas, and while she wasn't quite as worried over his well-being in that regard as Arthur, there was no way he wouldn't misinterpret this.

She felt Arthur begin to stir, and made the choice to feign sleep. Let him think it was his secret, and they could both pretend it had never happened. It was a little funny to sense him going through the same stages of awakening she had gone through – the awareness of warmth and comfort, the slow realization of its source, and then the recognition of just exactly how entangled they were. She was a little proud of how well she had handled things, comparatively – Arthur jerked his hand back and rolled onto his back so fast that had she not been faking sleep he'd definitely have woken her (frankly, she was surprised he hadn't fallen completely off the bed). She stirred a little, and rolled away to give him time to gather his thoughts before facing her. She was in no particular hurry to look him in the eye and to see him trying to avoid looking at her.

Unfortunately, Bae had other ideas for the morning.

"Hey Dad," she heard him chirp from across the room. "I thought you guys would never wake up."

The _one_ time the kid woke up first and decided to let her sleep in. Well, the cat was out of the bag now anyway. She wiggled a little and stretched as though just now waking up. She sat up and brushed the hair out of her face as she looked between them. Bae was perched on his bed silently playing with his Game Boy and looking completely unfazed by whatever had just happened in his parents' bed. Arthur, however, was leaning on his arms with a hunted look on his face as he looked back and forth in between Belle and Bae. She felt bad for him – he hadn't been able to help it, after all – but she could hardly contain the laughter that threatened to erupt at the sight of him panic-stricken and confused.

"Did everyone sleep well?" she finally managed to get out without giggling.

Bae nodded, going back to his game and Arthur just gave her a look of total confusion before excusing himself to the bathroom to get dressed (and presumably, to settle down). Well, Belle had found worse ways to start the morning.

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy _shit_. This was not good. This wasn't good at all. Gold was pretty sure he had never been more mortified in his entire life. God he hoped he'd woken her up by acting like a lunatic because the alternative was he'd woken her up by...other means. Oh _God_ what had he been thinking agreeing to sleep in the same bed as Belle? She was the mother of his child, she was sweet and kind, and his best friend – and absolutely, totally uninterested in him. And now she'd woken up with his erection poking her in the back. He was the worst sort of man.

He turned the shower on to buy himself some time to think, leaning over the sink heavily and taking in deep breaths. He'd had this little crush on Belle for awhile, but this had taken it completely out of hand. His son was asleep less than six feet away from the same bed they'd been in. It was completely wrong. It took him a little too long to calm himself down enough to strip and get in the shower without needing to worry about anything untoward happening for his own comfort. The scalding water settled his thoughts a bit, though, and by the time he'd finished his shower he was able to get dressed and walk into the room without worrying about disgracing himself further.

Belle was, of course, incredibly gracious about the whole thing, offering him a smile as she brushed past him on her way into the bathroom for her own shower. He practically collapsed onto the tiny, uncomfortable sofa out of relief that at least she didn't seem to hate him.

"Hey Dad?" Bae asked, still sitting quietly on the cot with his GameBoy resting on his legs.

"Yeah, son?"

"Why are you and mom acting so weird?"

If he only knew.

The drive upstate took place in relative silence. Gold wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Bae had taken to gaming to distract himself during their travels (and honestly, Gold would be lying if he acted like he wasn't a little proud his gift was getting so much use) which left him and Belle to their own devices. Given that morning's events, neither one was particularly eager for conversation.

She'd surprised him by singing along to the radio. Oh, no doubt about it she had an absolutely terrible singing voice. But it was still nice and comfortable in a way he hadn't anticipated. She even made him sing along once or twice, and if he did it Bae could be coaxed into joining in as well. It was still a long drive, but he was pleasantly surprised at how little he had wanted it to end by the time they approached the winding road that led to the cabin.

It was a really beautiful place, actually. He always forgot how pretty the area was when he came up here – there were pine trees and a lake, and he knew if you went past the cabin a ways from the road there was a stream with cascades that he was pretty sure Bae and Belle would love playing in. Belle was looking out the window with stars in her eyes, and even Bae was looking over the top of his game at the scenery.

He couldn't help preening just a little as he parked the car and led them into the cabin. It belatedly occurred to him that she might have been expecting something a bit more rustic, rather than the two story log cabin with hot tub that he was actually bringing them to. Well, he was allowed to have surprises that didn't involve waking her up with his penis.

"This whole place is _yours_?" Belle sounded incredulous as they walked into the hall. "It's bigger than our house."

Oh. Yeah, it kind of was.

"I don't come here often," he replied. "I usually rent it out for vacations, but when we decided on this trip it seemed the perfect place for it."

"You rent it out?"

"It's one of my investment properties," he said with a shrug, turning to look at her. "Why?"

"It just...never occurred to me you had a job besides the shop."

"You mean the pawn shop that I close at short notice and shut down for two weeks so I could come here?"

"Well, when you put it that way it sounds silly," she sounded almost hurt by this new revelation, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. What difference did it make to her where his money came from?

"Either way," she had a smile on her face again (although he had to pretend not to notice it was a little forced) and was moving about the living area and looking at various knick-knacks. "It is a very lovely house."

"This place is incredible," Bae said happily, darting from room to room. "Mom, this place is almost as big as Dad's house."

"It is," Belle said cheerfully. "Go pick your room before I take the best one."

That was enough to send Bae running up the stairs at a full tilt and sounding like a herd of elephants.

"I may have forgotten he sounds like that on the second floor of a house," Gold admitted as he set his suitcase on the stairs. "Luckily, I had the listing agent stock the kitchen before we got here and I am fairly sure that there's a lot of that wine you like in the cellar."

That got a smile on her face again, along with a soft giggle. He tried to ignore how relieved he felt knowing that at least he could make her this happy, even if it was just because he had provided booze. Still, he couldn't help wondering what else would get her to smile at him again.


	18. Chapter 18

LunarSinner said:

Hmmm, I had a little idea of a prompt; One weekend during a storm, the power goes out. Instead of playing video games, Bae decides to play a board game that all three of them can play together. (Bae possibly teaming up with his dad to beat his mother ^_^)

Tinuviel-undomiel said:

Squeee! Maybe Belle and Gold can dance at some point in this verse.

anonymousnerdgirl said:

Adoption!verse: Belle and Bae play a prank on Gold.

* * *

Gold was thankful that they had at least settled into the cabin before the freak storm hit. The rain wasn't so bad, but the wind was a bit disconcerting this far into the woods. He was a little afraid one of the trees might come down through the roof – had the leasing agent been keeping up with the property and having the dead trees removed? He should have checked before he brought his family up here. What if something happened?

"You know," Belle said from her perch on the window seat. "I always liked the rain."

She'd retreated there not long after the storm started with a glass of wine and a book, both of which were laying forgotten on the floor as she stared absently out the window. Bae had somehow misplaced his bongos (though Gold was pretty sure that if he were inclined to look into it they could probably be located in Belle's suitcase) and had retreated to his video games. It was a lazy day, at least. Which honestly, was nice. Gold was stretched out on the sofa listening to the rain on the roof and watching Belle and Bae in turns. He couldn't honestly remember the last time he was this happy, or this relaxed.

Suddenly, the house shook with a lightning strike nearby, followed quickly by a loud rumble of thunder that damn near made the windows rattle. Bae looked startled and conflicted, as though debating to himself whether or not he was too old to go hide under a bed while Belle, who had been looking at the place it hit, had damn near fallen off her seat in her surprise. Gold kept his chuckle to himself, instead coming over to stand next to her (after discretely moving her wine glass onto a table so that if she did fall she at least wouldn't stab herself) and look out the window.

"It was right there," she said with eyes wide. "I swear, the lightning hit that hill _right there_. I've never seen a lightning strike so close."

"Did you make a wish?"

"Are you supposed to make wishes on lightning strikes?"

He shrugged.

"Honestly I don't know. It just seemed like you should commemorate the occasion somehow."

She tossed him a long suffering look as another, smaller, strike happened a bit further away than the last one and out of view of the window.

"Do you get thunderstorms up this way often?" Belle asked.

"I don't know," he confessed. "I've only been up here a few times myself."

"Why not?"

"No one to go with," he said with a shrug.

Belle looked like she might say something again, but another two strikes in quick succession had Bae leaping to his feet and discarding his game on a table. A third, harder than the first two had him quickly coming over to sit next to his mother. He was trying to be casual, and didn't cling to her, but his rigid body language and wide-eyed glances told the whole story. Belle didn't draw any additional attention to him, draping an arm over his shoulders and pulling him against her comfortingly without even looking at him.

Gold had to resist the urge to smile. He should probably be jealous that Bae had instantly gone to his mother for comfort and not him, but honestly wasn't that what mothers were for? Your first and best source of comfort and love and safety? Fathers were those things, too, but it was different. Belle would always be Bae's safe place, and she would have been even had they both been in the picture all along (and my wasn't that a pleasant picture?). Of course, that didn't mean he had nothing to offer. He sat down on the other side of Bae, making sure the boy was surrounded on both sides. He'd been prone to panic attacks and anxiety as a child, he knew small spaces sometimes helped.

"The storm probably won't last much longer," he said conversationally. "The wind is pretty strong, so it's moving fast."

"You're right," Belle replied. "I just hope it clears before dark."

Another lightning strike, and then the power flickered. Belle squeezed Bae just a little tighter and he wondered if perhaps this aversion to the thunder was learned rather than innate. The power flickered again, and then once more before it went off completely.

"What happened?" Bae said nervously.

"The power just went out," Gold said as casually as he could. "It probably happens up here all the time with all the trees. I'm sure once the storm passes they'll put the lines to right."

"And in the meantime," Belle said cheerfully. "We play a game. You and your dad got games in the city, right?"

Bae nodded.

"Well, go and get them!"

Bae looked a little reluctant to leave, but went off on his mother's instruction anyway.

"He's trying so hard to be brave," Belle said proudly once he was out of earshot.

"Not a big fan of thunder?"

"You noticed?" she said with a slight blush creeping across her face. "No, I'm not. It's silly and I try not to let him notice but...he notices."

Gold didn't say anything right away, unsure of exactly what to say to comfort her when another thunderclap had her jumping again.

"Oh God, it's so stupid," she groaned with a nervous giggle at the end.

He wanted to hold her. He wanted to put his arm around her the same way she had done with Bae and hold her close and keep her safe. But that was what husbands and lovers were for, not co-parents, not friends.

"Not at all," he consoled. "You can't help a fear response."

"I just wish he didn't get frightened," she admitted finally. "I hate that I made him scared, too."

"He might outgrow it," Gold replied. "Or he'll grow up to lead a perfectly happy life someplace where there are a lot of droughts."

She shot him a withering glance, but he chuckled and she relented.

"Do you think the power is coming on soon?"

"I hope so," he said somberly. "At least if the storm passes, we can go outside and swim. And the water heater and stove are on gas, so we have that. But the food is going to go off and we'll have to go shopping again."

She nodded, jumping a little at the next lightning strike and moving her hand closer to his. He thought about touching his fingers to hers, but Bae's return had him jerking his hand into his lap.

"I brought all of them," Bae said, depositing the boxes on the table. "I wasn't sure what you wanted to play."

He heard Belle follow him.

"Oh, what about Scrabble?" she said excitedly, picking up the box.

She sounded so excited, Gold was inclined to agree with her suggestion no matter what it was, but Bae looked horrified.

"Mom, no," he said, sounding more like a war veteran than a ten-year-old.

"Oh come on, Bae," she replied. "It was _one time._"

Bae didn't relent, shaking his head and putting the disputed game under the table. Belle stuck her tongue out at her son, and Gold couldn't decide whether or not he wanted to know what that was all about.

"We could play Monopoly?" he suggested instead, deciding he'd ask both about the Scrabble incident separately and later.

"I am not playing Monopoly with a landlord," Belle teased.

"Twister?" he said with an innocent smile.

This got her to look at him incredulously and burst out laughing. Bae was just looking at them like he couldn't decide if he was embarrassed at their behavior or not, and began setting out the box containing Clue.

"I'm Mister Green," he said definitively. "Dad can be Colonel Mustard and Mom is Mrs. Peacock."

"Alright, then," Gold said, taking his yellow piece and setting it down between Bae's green and Belle's blue. "Clue it is."

The nice thing about Clue, in hindsight, was that there was no real skill required to beat it. There was, of course, the critical thinking aspect, but unlike Scrabble (which, Belle had to admit, she had a bit of an advantage at) it was a fairly even playing field between the three of them. They played a handful of games, barely keeping track of who won (although it was usually Arthur) – but keeping excellent track of who the murderer had been – Belle (or rather, Mrs. Peacock) had 'done it' twice.

The storm eventually passed, but the rain lasted awhile longer, keeping them inside. She didn't mind so much, though. They were having a good time and she kind of enjoyed this. It felt more like a life than their time at the hotel had, more like a family afternoon together than a special occasion. Still, though, at some point it became too dark to continue with boardgames anymore.

Arthur had found some candles and flashlights and they simply sat around and talked and waited for the power to come back on. Somehow it had come out that Belle had danced as a teenager, and Bae had asked her to show him some things. Using her phone to provide music, they had gone through a simple waltz while Arthur watched, before moving on to things like the Macarena and the Electric Slide. Novelty dances Belle had picked up from weddings and school dances, for the most part. Belle and Bae were both breathless and giggling within an hour.

"What do you want to try next?" she asked as yet another song came to an end.

"Let's do another one from when you were a kid," Bae said. "What about the Charleston?"

"I'm not that old!" Belle shrieked in a laugh.

"Oh," he seemed to consider it. "Dad, do you know it?"

"Your dad's not that old either, brat!" Belle swatted Bae playfully and he ducked and flopped onto the sofa.

"I actually do know the Lindy Hop," Arthur supplied, causing Belle to look at him with shock.

"Why on Earth do you know the Lindy Hop?"

"I took ballroom dancing a lifetime ago," he said with a shrug. "Some things just stay with you."

"Well, you're going to have to show your son," she teased him. "He does have a school dance this year, after all."

"Two problems with that," Arthur replied with a smug grin that said he had no intention of helping her with the dancing lessons. "One, I don't think they do the Lindy Hop at school dances in fifth grade and two, I only know how to lead."

Okay, fine, if he wanted to be difficult then two could play that game. Or rather, three could and she had help. She leaned down to whisper her plan into Bae's ear, and he was just as eager to participate as she had hoped he would be. If Arthur noticed anything amiss in their incredibly obvious scheming, he didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up her phone and started fiddling through looking at her available music and draining his glass of wine. They'd both been drinking a little bit and both were in that pleasant stage between sober and tipsy where things were just a little bit more amusing than they should be and time didn't march on quite so slowly.

"Find anything you like?" she said sitting down next to him and taking a sip of her own drink.

"You really have bizarre taste in music," he said with a teasing grin.

"Half of it is Bae's," she admitted. "Some of it is for jogging, some of it is stuff I've had since college, and the rest is just songs that got stuck in my head from the radio."

"That is quite the patchwork assembly."

"Well, I don't see you having anything better to dance to," she pointed out.

"Fair enough," he said. "If we were at home, I do have an old wind up record player we could have used."

He would, of course, have one. And she let the _at home_ slip of his tongue go, not wanting to call attention to things he didn't want her to know about.

"Well," she said standing up. "Are you going to show me this dance or not?"

He froze, hand holding his glass in mid-air as he took in what she said.

"Come on," she continued. "You can't just drop the 'I know the Lindy Hop' bomb and not expect me to take advantage. What else are you going to do with no power?"

"I haven't done it in ages," he demurred. "I'm probably not very good anymore."

"Still better than me," she pointed out. "Anyway, Bae wanted to see, remember?"

It had been a low blow, bringing Bae into it (Bae, who was quietly inching his way towards the door to the kitchen), but worth it because Arthur huffed, flipped the phone to a song he apparently felt might work, and stood up. He took her hand and led her to the center of the room.

"Alright, first thing's first..." he said and he began to run through the steps with her, occasionally glancing to where Bae stood across the room from them to make sure his son was looking.

Eventually, he stopped looking at all, as Belle was a less than ideal student, making him repeat instructions two or three times before getting it. By the time Bae had returned to the room from his errand, they had already had to restart the song three times and she could tell Arthur was getting a bit annoyed by her seeming inability to master the dance.

"Would you like to take a break?" she suggested finally. She felt a little guilty, as she knew he cared too much about her to become _angry _but he did clearly need a moment to decompress – she'd have felt more guilty if she'd made him really do any moving for this lesson, but she'd been the one doing all the twirling and bouncing while he mostly stood in one spot and told her what she was doing wrong.

Bae was trying his best to look innocent, but Belle could see he was nearly vibrating from excitement. She dropped onto the sofa, hoping she could keep Arthur's attention on her and not on their son long enough for her plan to work out. He eyed her suspiciously, though, and she drained her wine glass just to have something to do.

"Can you show me where the wine is?" she asked.

"It's in the kitchen," his voice containing an unspoken _you know that_ which she chose to ignore.

"I only saw the one bottle," she fibbed. "And it's empty now."

He narrowed his eyes at her, but nodded as she grabbed both their empty glasses and went to the door that Bae had just returned from.

"Could you get the door?" she asked him as sweetly as possible. "My hands are full."

He still didn't look like he believed her, but once again he said nothing, instead reaching out and taking the knob. His eyes widened in shock as he registered something sticky smeared on the knob and Bae started laughing uproariously at the joke they'd managed to play on his father and Belle couldn't contain her grin.

"What is this?" he said, looking at his hand in confusion.

"It's honey," Bae supplied from his perch on a chair. "Mom told me to do it."

"_Traitor!_" Belle yelled with a laugh.

"Oh, did she now?" Arthur said, a wicked grin rising on his face as he looked at her. "I suppose you didn't really have that much trouble learning the dance, either."

Belle bit her lip and shook her head. He seemed to consider her for a moment before lunging forward and snaking his clean arm around her waist. She yelped, trying to pull away but unable to do so without risking dropping the glasses she was carrying. Damn, she'd made a mistake with her distraction. Bae was close to falling over in amusement as his father held his mother pinned tight and slowly – so, so slowly – raised his sticky hand to her face. Oh, that bastard!

Belle gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tight as she felt him rubbing the sticky honey across her cheeks and forehead. She couldn't even move her head, as every time she attempted to her hair began sticking unpleasantly to her skin.

It took her awhile to figure out that he'd stopped, her eyes fluttering open to look at him. He was smiling down at her with good humor and she could hear Bae trying desperately to catch his breath from how hard he'd been laughing at this little game. Her heart was beating a little faster from her proximity to Arthur, and he was breathing harder than usual despite not having been exerting himself all _that_ hard. Their eyes met for a second and Belle felt her breath leave her for a moment, as though she'd felt a small electric shock. Or maybe that was the actual electricity, which flickered back on suddenly with a hum.

"Awesome," Bae said cheerfully, climbing off his chair and reclaiming his DS from its spot on the table. "The blackout is over!"

Arthur released her in an instant and she almost swooned from the loss of support.

"I'll just put these in the dishwasher, then," she muttered just to have something to say.

"Let me, um," he looked around nervously. "I'll get the door for you...hey, Bae? Can you clean this off for me?"

"Oh, sure," Bae said, moving through the open door to get a dishtowel. Belle had a fleeting thought of every time she'd ever been put off with 'in a minute' when asking him to take his damn clothes upstairs, but it passed as he breezed back out past them to clean the door.

Arthur took perhaps a bit longer than necessary to wash his hands, but that was alright, she needed a moment to load the dishwasher and settle her thoughts anyway.

"Sorry about that," he apologized as she put water on a paper towel and started to blot the sticky mess off her face.

"Oh, don't worry about it," she said with a smile. "We started it, after all."

"I won't deny that," he said with a wink. "But still, I shouldn't have grabbed you."

"Is that what's bothering you?" she tried her best to sound unaffected. "Don't worry about it. It was all in good fun. Besides, we never did get our dance, did we?"

He offered up one of his watery smiles at that sentiment.

"No, I suppose we didn't," he replied. "But it was a very clever distraction, Miss French, I assure you."

"It wasn't just a distraction," she said idly. "I'd like you to show me sometime when I'm not just trying to let Bae slip away unnoticed."

"Some other time, then," he said. "When it's not just a distraction."

"I'll hold you to that," she promised as she blotted off the last of the honey.

"It's a date, then," he said idly as he looked away. She felt that low tug in her gut again that she'd come to associate with him saying those sorts of things. Someday, she was going to have to figure out how to cope with that growing attraction. But that wasn't going to happen tonight.


	19. Chapter 19

ellen729a said:

If you were looking for prompts for when Arthur Gold, Belle and Bae get to the cabin: Getting lost in the woods. Could be real-lost, pretend-lost (when I was a kid, a small patch of trees could be all sorts of wilderness survival stories), or Gold teaching Bae how not to get lost/what to do if he does get lost.

I'd like to add "bending the map." Bending the map is when you find yourself trying to make your surroundings fit where you think you should be rather than admitting you're somewhere else. If you find yourself saying "Maybe that used to be the stream over there and it's gone dry this summer-and overgrown with grass-and a couple of trees. . . ." you are bending the map. I think, when it comes to their growing attraction for each other, Gold and Belle are bending the map. That's not where they're supposed to be and it's not where they think the other person is, so they're both trying to change the road signs and convince themselves they're someplace else.

* * *

"Now, the most important thing to remember if you ever get lost is not to panic," Dad said.

He was holding a compass and looking at a map and Bae was pretty sure they were, in fact, lost. Mom seemed okay with whatever was going on, though, so Bae had to be as well. He trusted his dad, but his mom was, well, his _mom_. She'd never let him down before and he knew she wouldn't let anything bad happen. This was supposed to be a stargazing trip to the top of a nearby hill, but it had become an impromptu lesson in how to read a map a lot faster than Bae was really okay with, especially considering Dad admitted that he didn't really come here a lot.

Mom shifted the telescope a little bit on her shoulder, and Bae saw his dad cringe a little. Dad always felt bad about it when Mom carried things, but he was juggling a cane and a compass and a map and the telescope wasn't _that_ heavy. Bae had been carrying it himself earlier, but after a half hour of walking his mom had taken it so he wouldn't get worn out. Dad just thought since Mom was a girl and short that meant she wasn't able to carry big things, or that she shouldn't have to. Bae knew better, though. He had seen Mom carry coolers full of drinks for soccer practice and all kinds of other things. She could handle the telescope fine. Besides, if she wanted to carry it he wasn't going to stop her. It wasn't heavy but it was pretty big and bulky and for all that he was apparently going to be a lot taller than Mom (his birth mom had been tall, and Dad was taller than Mom, too) he wasn't yet.

"See, Bae," Dad tried to show him the map. "This is where we are and this is where we're going."

Bae wasn't quite sure how Dad knew where they were, because it all looked like a lot of forest to him. There were some hills nearby but other than that he didn't really know how Dad could possibly have any idea that they were in this particular part and not the one over there. He nodded anyway, though, and looked at Mom for reassurance that he'd done the right thing. Mom was looking between the two of them and she didn't look so sure herself anymore and that was when Bae started to get nervous.

He wished Mom would say something to Dad. He wished she'd just ask a question or come out and say what they were going to do to fix it, but for the first time it occurred to Bae that Mom never really went camping either. She honestly might not know how to fix this. That was scary, because he'd never had a problem Mom couldn't fix before. He really, really just wanted to hug her now but they were walking and she was still holding the telescope so instead he just started walking really close to her.

"Arthur," she finally said. "We need to stop. I think Bae's tired."

Bae was tired, but he hadn't quite realized it yet. The fact that she had made him feel a little better.

Dad looked back at where they were and Bae saw a lot of things go across his face before he nodded.

"Yes, of course," Dad said, taking the telescope from Mom and setting it down on the ground. Mom sagged a little bit once the weight was off of her, and Bae sat down on a stump. He hoped Mom would talk to Dad and get him to take them back to the cabin. They could see the stars fine from there.

"We're not too far away," Dad told Mom and even Bae could hear how fake his good mood was. "Just a little bit longer, I think."

"Show me," she said, grabbing the map and holding it up. "Where are we going?"

Dad swallowed a little but came to stand behind Mom so they could both see what they were looking at. He pointed to a spot on the map.

"See," Dad said. "That's the hill over there and there should be a creek that runs along this path. We're going to this hill here."

"But is there a creek that runs along this path?" Mom asked quietly.

"Well, it's summer. You can't always trust a creek to be there all summer."

"Is there a creek bed?"

Dad was completely silent and Bae knew that nobody had looked to see if there was a creek to the side of the path. He saw Dad glance over at him, so he bent down and picked up a stick and started poking the dirt with it. He wanted to hear this, but it wasn't a conversation either of them would have with him in earshot.

"Arthur," Bae could hear his mom trying really hard not to yell. "Are we lost?"

He didn't hear his dad's reply, but he heard his mom suck in air hard and then she turned to face his dad.

"How can you not know?" she was talking in a whisper just loud enough to be heard if Bae held his breath. "What is wrong with you?"

"I thought I knew," Dad was clearly trying to calm Mom down but Bae knew that wasn't going to work.

"You brought our son out here!" Mom squeaked a little bit and hit Dad's arm. It wasn't hard, and Bae was pretty sure it was mostly out of frustration and fear but he'd never seen her hit anyone except when she was playing with him – she'd never even spanked him. He'd never seen her afraid before, though – not really. Dad didn't flinch, instead he just took her hands in his and held on while he talked.

"I'm sorry, Belle," he said softly and Bae saw his dad rubbing the backs of his mom's hands with his thumbs to try to comfort her. "I am sorry. I thought I knew where I was going and I thought this would be nice. You know I wouldn't have gotten either of you lost like this on purpose. You _know_ that."

Dad was pleading a little bit, but it at least Mom didn't seem angry anymore so maybe it was working.

"We need to go back," Mom said firmly. "We just need to get him back to the cabin where it's safe."

"We do," Dad agreed but he didn't make any attempt to drop Mom's hands and lead them home which made Bae even more nervous.

"Do you know where the cabin is?" Mom asked and Bae knew she already had the answer to that.

"I'm not sure," Dad admitted quietly.

Mom was shaking now from something and Bae hoped it was anger and not fear because if Mom was afraid that meant Mom couldn't fix it. Mom had to be able to fix it, because somebody had to fix it.

Mom finally leaned forward and put her face on Dad's shoulder and started to shake harder, and that's when Bae realized she was crying. Mom never cried, and Dad seemed just about as confused as Bae felt. He dropped her hands, and moved like he wanted to put his arms around her but wasn't sure if he should or not, so instead he kind of waved at the air near her back. Well, clearly Dad wasn't going to be a lot of help with this, but Bae was pretty sure that he could at least do this much.

He stood up and walked over to his mom cautiously. She rarely cried, at least not in front of him and this was the first time it ever occurred to Bae that maybe Mom cried other times when he couldn't see her. The idea that she might not be able to rescue them was so, so scary and not because of spending the night in the woods (although that didn't sound like a lot of fun, it wouldn't kill them) but because Mom always fixed everything. He'd never had a problem that she didn't make better before.

Dad saw him coming and stood up a little straighter. He'd finally settled on resting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them up and down her arms, but Bae wrapped his arms around her waist from the side and pressed his face into her stomach. Mom made a strange little whimpering sound and turned to pull Bae into a tight hug. He was having trouble breathing for a minute but it was okay, because it seemed to make her feel better. Dad was still standing nearby, looking uncomfortable and alone and Bae wished his mom wasn't so angry because Dad probably needed a hug, too.

He thought it was probably a relief for both of them when Mom stopped shaking, stood up, and snatched the map and compass away from Dad. Dad didn't seem like he was okay with Mom being so upset, but Bae thought he might be able to handle her being angry at him at least. Bae hoped so, anyway. Dad was kind of sensitive sometimes, but Bae trusted his mom. She'd never actually do anything bad even if she was angry.

It took forty-five minutes of arguing over a map and another hour and a half of hiking before they were safely back at the cabin. Belle had taken possession of the map and the compass, and Bae had apparently picked up enough on her distress (although how could he have missed it?) and clung to her like a limpet for the first hour of their journey, at which point Belle had been confident enough that they were headed in the general direction of safety that she was willing to look back to where Arthur trailed them.

He looked miserable, the telescope under one arm and his cane clutched in his hand. Maybe she'd overreacted, although she wasn't really sure how she should react to _I got both of us and our ten-year-old lost in the woods with spotty cell service_. He was so cautious most of the time and this was definitely a momentary lapse in judgment, but she was half afraid if she spoke to him she was going to kill him.

With a sigh, she disengaged Bae with a whispered suggestion that his dad might need help and slowed her pace enough so that Arthur was forced to catch up to her once Bae had the telescope.

"Am I forgiven, then?" he said with a wry smile that she knew meant he was trying his luck with a joke.

"Almost," she admitted. "I'm not terrified anymore, but I think you and I need to have a long talk tonight."

He nodded, accepting her terms, and glanced at Bae who was doing his very best to not acknowledge that his dad was in so much trouble.

Belle wasn't sure she'd ever felt as much relief as when the damn mansion he insisted on calling a cabin came into view and she knew that her son was safe. They made it through the door and Belle could have kissed the floor from sheer relief.

"I'm gonna go to bed," Bae said as he set the telescope down on the stairs.

"Take a shower first," Belle reminded him. "You're filthy."

He nodded before ascending the stairs on all fours. She should probably remind him to walk upright, but was too exhausted to bother. Whatever, climbing stairs like a dog was hardly the worst habit he'd ever develop. Arthur lingered in the living room, and she knew he was waiting for her to yell at him but just being inside had drained her of nearly all her energy. It was all she could do to collapse on the sofa with her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry, Belle," he said softly, coming to sit across from her in an armchair. "I didn't mean to put you and Bae at risk, I really thought I knew where we were going."

"I know," she muttered. "That's what's so fucking frustrating. I shouldn't have to worry about you leading us into the middle of the woods on a lark! For God's sake, you brought a first aid kit on a picnic!"

"I did," he agreed.

"You're supposed to know better than this!" she exclaimed, climbing to her feet and pacing now that she had energy for anger again. "You've never done something so dumb and I just don't see how this was a good idea. Explain it to me, please."

She stopped her pacing near his chair and stared down at him.

"I don't have an explanation," he reminded her. "I told you, I know it was a bad idea. I don't know why I did it."

"Not that," she said. "Why was it so important that we go for this hike tonight? What were we trying to accomplish?"

"Oh," he said with a groan. "There's a clearing a little ways from here. Somewhere around here, anyway. Last time I was up here I found it. It's so pretty and isolated from all the lights so you can see the milky way and everything and...I don't know. It just occurred to me that he'd probably never been far enough away from civilization to see the stars like that."

He took a deep breath as though bracing for her scorn, and she dropped back down to sit on the edge of the sofa. He'd meant well and she knew that – she'd known it even as she yelled at him and sobbed in the woods.

"I'm so, so sorry Belle," he continued. "Really, I am. If I could do it again we'd just go out on the back porch and look. I just wanted him to see what the sky is supposed to look like."

"It's okay," she said finally, reaching out and taking her hand in both of hers. "I understand. I shouldn't have hit you, anyway. No matter how angry I was at the time. I'm sorry for that."

"What?" he said, realization dawning on his face. "Oh, that? I barely even noticed. I've certainly taken a harder hit than that one."

"Still," she insisted. "I wouldn't want Bae doing it and I shouldn't, either."

"It was barely a tap," he said with a smile. "And I did almost get you killed, anyway. I think you earned it."

She tried to scowl, but he was just so happy that she wasn't angry with him anymore that she couldn't bring herself even to feign annoyance.

"Alright," she said finally. "If we're going to be friends again then I'm going to wash up and go to bed. I have forest all over me."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," he said, bracing his hands on the chair and beginning to stand up.

He didn't make it, though. Instead, he collapsed back into the chair with a growl and a wince. Belle was at his side in an instant, and had her arm around his shoulders before she knew what she was doing.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, but she knew as she said it what was wrong. "Is it your leg?"

He nodded instead of answering, gritting his teeth so hard Belle wasn't sure if one would break or not.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

He shook his head.

"No," he forced out. "I'll be fine."

"Let me rephrase that," she said again. "Is there something that I could do to help that you don't want to tell me about because you're too proud to ask?"

He froze for a second and looked at her. Pain was still visible in his face, but she seemed to at least have startled him into forgetting the worst of it, at least.

"Alright," he finally said. "There is something."


	20. Chapter 20

**thatravenclawbitch said:**

Adoption verse!Prompt: Gold starts getting awkward boners all the time around Belle!

**woodelf68 said:**

Adoption verse prompt: Belle massage's Gold's leg to make it feel better.

**anonymousnerdgirl said:**

You realize this [Belle's bathtub dream] needs a companion piece about Gold having a similar fantasy in the shower. While wanking.

* * *

This was a terrible idea and Arthur couldn't believe he'd agreed to it. Yes, there were stretches he could do that would help his knee, and _yes_ those stretches were more effective with someone else to provide resistance. He wasn't entirely sure how Belle had lit upon the idea of using the hot tub to relax his muscles, but he was pretty sure this was how he was going to die. For one thing, he could barely walk on his own at the moment so she'd had to walk him to his bedroom, sit him on his bed, get his trunks, and then leave him to change while she put on her own bathing suit (and oh hey why the hell had she brought a different bathing suit to wear to the lake than the one she wore to the beach? Was it because the universe hated him? Was it some sick cosmic joke that had her in a goddamn bikini?). Once she was changed, she returned to help him out to the balcony where the hot tub was located, which of course necessitated her arm around his bare torso and his arm draped around her shoulders as he tried not to notice the way her breast was pressed against his side as they walked. There was far too much skin to skin contact. This was not okay.

Belle didn't seem to notice his distress, at least, which was a small miracle of itself. Ever since their night in the same bed, he'd been having a...well, a pretty big problem. Prolonged physical contact with her had begun leading to certain _responses_ that he would have preferred to keep to his bedroom where they belonged. It was like his body had only now realized that he was attracted to her, and was dead set on reminding him of that fact as frequently as possible. Which, it turned out, was pretty frequently. Belle was a very tactile person and not at all above cuddling Bae, and if Bae was between the two of them then she seemed perfectly content to cuddle Arthur as well. That was awkward, but at least he was usually wearing more than a bathing suit at the time. And he was sitting. Often with a blanket in his lap.

As she helped him into the water before climbing in herself, he missed his blanket.

Good Lord, she was wearing a bikini and a smile as she climbed into the other side of the hot tub and grabbed his leg. It was like every teenage masturbatory fantasy he'd ever have come to life as she started rubbing the muscles of his lower thigh, trying to relax them before the stretching.

"So what do I do now?" she broke into his thoughts with a tentative voice.

"Um," he tried to remember back when he went to physical therapy. "I need you to push against my foot until the knee is as bent as I can take, and then I need to push against your hand to straighten it out."

She nodded, and damn him he'd never had a prettier or more focused physical therapist. She was so gentle, bracing his foot against her chest and leaning into him slowly until he would tell her to stop and then rubbing her free hand against the muscles of his leg (which were strained from being forced to compensate for the weakness in his knee) until he was comfortable, and then let him push her back until she was seated against the other side of the hot tub. She had been right, and his leg did feel better (or at least it felt like it would feel better in the morning), but he'd never been so happy for the water to obscure his shame-tented groin.

"It doesn't usually hurt like this, does it?" she asked finally. "I mean, you usually don't seem too bothered by it like you have been."

"Have you been watching me, Belle?" he tried teasing but he thought the pain in his voice might have ruined the effect.

"I've been living with you for a week and a half," she said matter-of-factly. "And you weren't exactly a stranger before that."

"It's been a long week," he said through clenched teeth as she pushed against him again. "I've been pushing too hard. It's my own damn fault."

He swallowed a grunt of pain but she noticed anyway, soft fingers immediately coming to rub away the hurt and he had to grit his teeth to keep from moaning with pleasure. He wasn't sure if this was torture or bliss, or even if he wanted her to stop.

"You're trying to be a good dad," she said with a shrug. "No one would blame you for that. I think it's sweet how hard you're trying."

She really was too good to be believed. Too beautiful, too kind, too sweet.

"He's my son," he said through gritted teeth as he straightened his leg back out and tried not to notice that he was touching her breast with his foot. "I'm just trying to keep up with him."

"There's no reason to push like this, though," she said softly. "Nobody wants to see you do any permanent damage."

She now had one hand wrapped around his upper calf and the other resting just above his knee as she leaned into him again. He had stopped noticing the pain anymore, or maybe he'd stopped feeling it, because all he could feel was that he was on fire where she touched him.

"I need to get out," he blurted, pulling away from her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," he tried to reassure her but his voice sounded wrong. "Yes, I'm fine. I just...thank you but I have to go."

He was thankful at least that she had done such a good job as he hobbled away, because he could at least walk under his own power, leaving her alone and confused in a hot tub. God, he was a heel. She'd been doing him a favor and he'd run away from her like the coward he was. He hated himself, and he was painfully hard. Another excellent reason to hate himself – he'd taken her kind gesture and warped it into something tawdry.

Gold limped into the bathroom, stripping and turning the shower on. He'd had some success lately with drowning his desire for her in scalding showers, but this time his blood was already boiling from her gentle touches and the heat of the hot tub and the burning on his skin mirrored the fire inside. He was feverish and he couldn't help it as he wrapped one hand around himself and pulled. He hated himself for this weakness, for these desires that were overwhelming and clawing at his mind. He needed a release, maybe then he could think straight.

It was fast work to spill himself in the shower, but the return of blood to his head left him dizzy and unsteady. He quickly shut the shower off and nearly collapsed into the tub as the last of the water ran down the drain. He couldn't breathe, he needed to get out of the bathroom and the steam and it was a herculean effort to crawl on hands and knees into the bedroom so he could collapse on the floor next to his bed and gather his wits about him.

Gradually, his breathing returned to normal and his blood pressure settled. He hoisted himself up, and was glad when his equilibrium didn't betray him. He was so damn thirsty. That's what he got for going on a long hike, climbing into a hot tub, and then masturbating in a scalding hot shower. Dehydration was basically a given at that point. He grabbed a pair of pajama pants and pulled them on. He couldn't put the top on, he just couldn't. Too much fabric and he was still so damn hot. Everyone had seen him without a shirt by this point in the trip, there was no sense playing coy about it now.

He'd hoped – really, really hoped – that Belle would have gone to sleep by now, but as he made his way to the kitchen there she was, sitting on the counter and sipping a glass of wine in her damn bikini.

"Oh," she looked surprised to see him when she glanced up from her glass. "Are you feeling alright? You ran off so fast."

"Yes," he said, not daring to look at her and instead making a show of getting a glass and filling it with cold water. "I'm fine. I'm sorry if I scared you."

He took a long drink from his glass, relishing the way the liquid seemed to instantly make his blood work better.

"You look feverish," she said simply, reaching out and touching a hand to his overheated forehead. "You're burning up."

"I'm fine," he lied. "I just let myself get a bit dehydrated is all. I'm better now."

She didn't look like she believed him, but she didn't question it.

"Your skin is bright red."

"I told you, I was dehydrated. And overheated."

"Alright," she said finally. "You better be alright." Belle drained her glass and hopped down off the counter before continuing, "I'm going to bed."

"Sleep well," he said, bracing himself against the sink as she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"You too," she said with a gentle pat to his bare shoulder before turning and ascending the stairs to where her room was.

He gulped down the rest of his water, pouring another glass and clutching it in both hands like a lifeline. She had no idea what she was doing to him, and the worst part was that he didn't really want her to stop.

It was high time that he admitted a few things to himself – for one thing, Belle was exactly his type physically. This was a demonstrable fact that anyone who had known him ten years ago would have pointed out already. Her coloring and facial structure mirrored both Milah's and Cora's to the point that Bae could pass for her biological child. She was a bit shorter than both, but that was a negligible difference. The physical attraction was practically a given the moment he walked into her house the first time, so he shouldn't have found it that surprising.

He'd known she was intelligent before he even met her (he'd done his homework, after all, and she'd graduated with top honors from school). But the world was full of beautiful girls, and it was full of intelligent girls, and there was more overlap between those groups than people liked to acknowledge. Belle shouldn't be that special, but yet she was. She was the mother of his son, and she had welcomed him into her home and her life with no reservations, very little hesitation, and no caveats beyond insisting that Bae not be hurt.

He didn't know what was going on, or why, but he was beginning to suspect that this had gone beyond anywhere he'd expected it to. He could dance around it for days – call it a crush, call it a little infatuation, call it whatever he liked – but the fact of the matter was that he wanted Belle. He desperately, desperately wanted her. He wanted her smiles and her kisses and wanted to see her when she woke up in the morning and see her when she laughed and when she cried and have her look at him and know he was allowed to touch her and that she would welcome him. He wanted her to love him. He loved her.

And now he was hard again from her kissing him, dammit.


	21. Chapter 21

cynicsquest on prompted:

Prompt: Belle impresses Arthur further by proving how good a fisherwoman she is. Would love it if they both fell in the pond and it lead to a kiss (or, a kiss lead to falling in the pond).

A/N: Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of kissing coming up any time soon. It's coming eventually, but you guys are gonna have to be patient. This is the slow burn story to end all slow burn stories.

* * *

"This isn't what we were counting on for dinner, was it?" Belle whispered to Arthur.

He gave her a smile and glanced over to where Bae sat, maintaining a constant stream of chatter as he reeled his line in again to reveal nothing on it...again.

"I thought we might order a pizza, actually," he said with a soft chuckle.

"My hero," she teased, turning her attention back to the water before another thought occurred to her. "Do they deliver out here?"

"They do if you pay them enough," he said with a shrug and a smile.

They had decided to spend a day fishing, because that's what you do at cabins in the woods. Belle hadn't been fishing since she was a little girl, and Bae had never been. Bae was also physically incapable of not talking for more than sixty-seconds at a stretch, and had no real interest in actually catching anything. It was more for an excuse for father and son to spend time together than anything. Belle couldn't begrudge either of them that. And there was a rowboat! How many chances does a modern woman really have to go out in a rowboat, anyway?

"So Dad?" Bae said, looking up at Arthur as he spoke.

"Hm?"

"What's black and white and makes a lot of noise?"

Arthur looked a little stunned at Bae's odd question, but played along.

"I don't know, Bae," he finally said. "What?"

"A zebra with a drum kit!"

Belle couldn't help smiling in amusement at how stupid the joke was, and Arthur gave Bae a chuckle and a pat on the head. Bae, of course, took this as encouragement.

"What's a witch's favorite subject in school?"

"What?"

"Spelling."

"You're very clever, son," Arthur said affectionately.

Bae smiled shyly at the praise, going back to recasting his line. He seemed more interested in casting his line than in actually waiting for things to bite but that probably had something to do with his known aversion to eating fish than anything else. Plus she had to admit it was pretty fun to swing the rod around.

She cast her line out a bit further, letting the sound of Bae's jokes and Arthur's confused sounding replies fade into the background. This was nice. She could see why her dad had always liked fishing. Thoughts of her dad always left Belle a little melancholy. He'd died around the same time Bae was born, and now that she thought back on it she didn't think she'd really given herself enough time to grieve before taking on parenting. Not that she regretted her son – quite the opposite, she was thankful every day that she had him – but she wasn't really sure she'd finished mourning her father before she jumped into motherhood.

Belle sometimes wondered what her father would think about her current situation. On the one hand, anything that would have gotten his little girl out on a boat with a fishing rod in her hand would probably have been alright by him, but in a grander sense she wasn't sure.

She thought he might have disapproved of her decision to become a parent all of a sudden, but of course Bae would have won him over nearly immediately. Her papa had loved everything she ever loved, simply because it made her happy. She'd been the only child of a doting father and she had no trouble at all imagining him transferring that affection to her son as well. Bae, too, would have benefited from having a stable male influence in his life from infancy.

Oh sure, he'd done alright with coaches and such, and he had a pretty good bond with Dr. Hopper even though his visits were now sporadic at best, but it was different when it was a man who was with you because he wanted to be and not because he was paid to be. That, she decided, was the best thing about having Arthur around. He was here because he wanted to be, because he'd spent time and money to find them, because he wanted to know her son for no other reason than because Bae existed. Whether Bae really understood that or not yet, she knew that was the single best gift her child could have gotten – the knowledge that he had two parents who wanted him so much that they both went out of their way to be with him.

She was less sure of how her father would feel about Arthur, honestly. She thought he might disapprove of her having a man so much older than her hanging about, but then he'd always been a little overprotective. She hoped that (in this fantasy world in which her father was still alive) the two men might have come to terms with each other for the benefit of her son. Her papa would have wanted his grandchild to be happy and as loved as possible, and that Arthur loved Bae was as self-evident as the sun rising in the east.

The warmth of the sun and the quiet comfort of the situation had Belle drifting off a little, only to be startled awake when the rod jerked in her hands.

"Oh my gosh," she yelped as it tugged, drawing the attention of her son and his father. "I caught something!"

"Really?" Arthur seemed surprised, though that might have had more to do with Bae's constant noise than her own skill as a fisherwoman.

"Way to go, Mom!" Bae exclaimed, moving over to her and rocking the boat a little. "Reel it in! I wanna see!"

"Give her a minute, Bae," Arthur chided, wrapping his arms around the boy and holding him away from her a little so she could pull the line, but also keeping him still so he wouldn't rock the boat again.

"I've never caught anything before," Belle said breathlessly, continuing a steady pull-then-wind movement so as not to break her line. She'd really only been out fishing a handful of times before, and both of those were before she was a teenager, but she still remembered bits and pieces from her father's occasional attempts to bring her into his interests and hobbies.

"You're doing great," Arthur encouraged her. "Just keep going."

"It feels like it's probably a big one," she replied excitedly.

Bae was squirming in his father's grasp, trying to come to stand over his mother's shoulder, but she was grateful that the boy was restrained. After the fish got pulled in, they all needed to have a long talk about boat safety.

"This is so cool!" Bae chirped as Belle finally got the – disappointingly small – fish out of the water and into the boat.

"Somehow I thought it would be bigger," she said as Bae picked up the end of her line and held the fish up in front of him.

"I've never touched a live fish before," he said. "It's kind of slimy."

"That keeps them from getting parasites," Arthur explained as he took the fish and grabbed a little tool to cut the hook, freeing the fish. "Here, Bae, why don't you toss him back for your mom?"

Belle knew it was going to happen before it did. Call it mother's intuition, call it a premonition, call it a lifetime of experience leading up to the moment that Bae stood up, leaned over the edge of the boat, and the fish wriggled – startling Bae and causing him to drop the fish and recoil, which set the boat rocking too hard to be stopped before it capsized, sending all three of them into the lake.

They all came up about the same time, Belle clinging to the edge of the boat and Bae clinging to his mother while Arthur tread water nearby.

"Well," she said to Arthur as she brushed her hair back from her face. "I realize now we may have forgotten to give Bae a proper lecture about why one should be careful about standing in a boat."

"You could be right," he replied. "My mistake."

"Both of us," she said simply, giving Bae a little squeeze before guiding him to the side of the boat. "But I don't think he's going to do that again in any case, are you?"

Bae shook his head, looking a little shellshocked at his new situation.

"So that's settled, then," she winked at Arthur. "I believe someone promised me pizza?"

After his little temper tantrum of the night before, Arthur actually found that accepting he was in love with Belle made socializing with her easier. He wasn't going to expect anything from her – in fact, he had no intention of ever revealing to her that his feelings were anything besides platonic – but sitting in the living room with her and Bae and telling childhood stories while all three were still damp from showering and eating pizza in sweatpants and pajamas suddenly didn't feel like an impossible task. He loved her. She could eat a surprising amount of pizza, and he now knew that she put her hair up in a bun when it was damp so that it would be wavy when it dried, but he loved her. He'd been in love before, and it had ended disastrously each time. But he could love her from afar, and as long as she didn't know his heart might just be safe.

Belle really was beautiful, too, even with the slight sunburn she'd developed over the course of the trip. Her eyes would light up as she spoke, and she'd smile this odd little smile as she relayed stories of Bae's early life (which he always pretended to be embarrassed by, but the way he smiled when their attention was on him belied his desperate need to be the focus of their relationship). It made him feel whole again to be with them, and now he knew why Belle was such an integral part of his happiness. It all made sense, and now that the mystery of why he needed her was gone it was like this stress he'd been under had finally been relieved and he could focus entirely on his family.

He was so caught up in being in love with her that he didn't notice she'd stopped talking right away, until he realized she was staring very intently at the floor about six inches away from his foot. Glancing down, he saw there was a spider skittering across the floor. It suddenly paused, before turning and moving about a foot towards Belle before she yelped and jumped onto the back of the sofa.

"Bae, get your feet off the floor," she said, alarm rising in her voice as Bae tucked his feet up onto his chair.

"It's just a little spider," Gold looked over at Belle. Somehow it had never occurred to her she would have more than one phobia – or that spiders would be the thing that got her climbing up a chair.

Whatever her retort would have been was lost as the spider made another run towards her, causing her to shriek and fall off her perch onto the floor behind the couch.

Bae failed to stifle a giggle in his hands, and it was all Gold could do not to burst into laughter as she stood up and shot her son a death glare.

"For God's sake Belle, you're Australian," he chuckled as he went to find a cup and a piece of paper.

"And I moved to New England," she spat at him. "We have been over this!"

He wasn't sure she'd ever stop surprising him. She could face near drowning with aplomb, but an arachnid (which, he desperately wanted to point out, wasn't even of the venomous variety) had her practically climbing the walls in desperation to get away from it. She watched him intently as he flipped an empty glass down over top of the spider and slipped a paper plate underneath it.

"Bae, can you get the door?"

Bae hopped up, running to open the front door for his father and watching as he unceremoniously deposited the bug into the bushes next to the porch.

"Alright," he called back as he walked back into the house with the cup and plate still in his hand. "You're safe, he's outside where he can't hurt anybody..."

He'd been about to continue, but Belle nearly knocked him over as she ran over and wrapped her arms around him tight. He looked around in confusion, but Bae just gave him a sympathetic smirk and grabbed another piece of pizza out of the box.

"Thank you so much," she gushed. "I hate – hate – spiders!"

"Belle, it's fine," he wanted to hug her tight and smell her hair but his hands were full and that would be creepy anyway, so instead he sort of placed his arms around her back and let her continue her hugging. "It wasn't even a dangerous spider. It was just a regular little house spider."

"I still hate them," her voice was mumbled some by his shirt. He was trying valiantly not to feel some masculine pride at having vanquished the threat to the princess, but was failing miserably.

"Regardless," he finally said, stepping back a little bit to give his ego room to settle. "It's fine. If you really want to thank me..." his mind went strange places and he quickly changed statements. "You don't have to thank me."

She seemed to consider for a moment, before popping up on tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek again like she had at the sink when he realized he loved her. He wasn't sure what she meant by that, but she smiled at him like he'd saved her from a dragon and took the cup and plate from him to return to the kitchen.

"She always gets like that around spiders," Bae explained once she was out of the room. "I just ignore her now, unless she pays me to kill them for her. It's safer that way."

"How in the world did she survive before you were old enough to kill them?"

He shrugged.

"One time when I was kind of little she gave me a hand vacuum and told me she'd buy me any toy I wanted if I got a spider out of the sink. I got a pretty cool LEGO kit."

By now, Belle had returned from the kitchen and put on a mock-offended face.

"Bailey Neal French, are you telling stories about me?"

"Are you saying he's a liar?" Gold teased, taking a sip of his drink.

"I would never bribe a child!" Belle said in a huff. "It was an incentive, that's different."

"Clearly."

Bae scowled at his mom, but she didn't seem to mind. She was looking at Gold still. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about being cast as the hero in this, but he didn't think he'd ever get sick of her looking at him that way. He could be content like this, he decided. Just the three of them. Nothing inappropriate, very little touching, but so much love it was palpable. It was all he ever wanted again.


	22. Chapter 22

**Anonymousnerdgirl said:**

Belle and Arthur find the spot they got lost looking for and they have a moment- which is promptly interrupted by Bae.

**Woodlf68 said:**

Adoption!verse prompt: Arthur spots a hidden fawn & fetches Bae to see it. Bae worries it's abandoned, but Arthur assures him the mother deer will come back, & they settle down to watch with their telescope. When the mom returns, Arthur draws a parallel, saying they'll never leave him either.

* * *

"So this is the infamous spot, huh?" Belle said as they reached the clearing at the top of the hill he'd taken them to. "I have to say, I can see why you wanted to come here."

Gold looked around happily – coming back in daylight had been a good idea (and so had bringing a phone to use as a GPS, but he wasn't about to admit that out loud). They had brought a picnic and were going to stay to watch for stars. Storybrooke was hardly a bustling city, but there was still light pollution, and this was the last night of their vacation. Gold wanted to make sure that his son had this final memory to cherish. This clearing was towards the top of a hill, and far away from the road and other cabins. At night, you could see the Milky Way. He was itching to show this to them, because he doubted that either had ever seen anything like it before in their lives.

"Hey Mom?" Bae's voice broke into his thoughts. "I'm gonna go look around, okay?"

Belle glanced over to Gold quickly before replying to her son.

"That's fine," she said. "Just make sure you stay where you can see us."

Bae nodded and began making a tour of the perimeter of the area.

"Alone again," she said once Bae was out of earshot. "That child spends more time wandering by himself I swear."

Gold had noticed that as well, but hadn't seen anything odd in it. A thought occurred to him, then.

"Does he not usually spend time by himself?"

"He's ten," she said with a shrug. "He's been through a lot of phases. Sometimes he wants me there all the time and I can barely shut the door to pee and sometimes he wouldn't notice if I took a week long road trip as long as I had pizza delivered while I was gone."

"I'm sure he'd notice," Gold replied. "But if you had pizza delivered nightly I can see how he might not care."

She shot him a look and playfully slapped his arm, but didn't say anything. Instead, she just took out the blanket they'd brought for their picnic and began spreading it out on the grass, carefully straightening the corners and weighing them down with small stones. He watched her, because he couldn't really move as easily as she did and he knew if he tried to help she'd just shoo him away. Besides, he had a lot to think about. Belle seemed surprised at how often Bae wandered off and left them alone. Gold had always assumed that he was just an independent child, but then she hadn't been present for the conversation at the beach when Bae asked if they were dating. He had his suspicions.

"Are you going to sit or just stand there staring at Bae all day?" Belle said from where she was now seated on the blanket.

He lowered himself to the blanket, careful of his leg as he went. Belle had gotten herself a glass of ice tea from a large thermos and offered him one of his own as they both watched their shared son meandering through the clearing, hitting tall grass with a stick and occasionally glancing around at various forest noises.

"Thank you for taking us here," she said softly. "We usually wouldn't get to do something this big."

"You don't have to thank me," he reminded her. "I wouldn't have done any of it without you two, either."

"Still," she continued, weaving her arm through his and squeezing for a second. "Thank you."

He didn't know what to say. She was still thanking him for something he wanted her to take for granted that he would do. There was nothing either Belle or Bae could ever want that he wouldn't try to provide.

This was their second picnic, he realized. He doubted he'd been on more than two picnics before meeting Bae and Belle, and yet this was his second one in as many months. He felt a strange sense of calm at that realization, though. Life with these two was wholesome in a way he'd never experienced before. It was as though he was cleansed by their presence, a lifetime of selfishness washed away in a handful of months.

And, of course, he loved them so much he could hardly stand it. Being with either was like coming home, being with both was like waking up in a fairy tale just in time for the happily ever after. Being in love with Belle had actually added a whole new dimension to his happiness. The confusion was gone, and all he had left was a strange sense of relief. He could have it all – she hadn't dated in ten years, aside from the one he'd watched Bae for, and she didn't seem to feel the loss, either. He had no particular need for romantic affection that couldn't be fulfilled by the gentle touches and cheek kisses he already received from her. He could do this, he decided. He could be there whenever she needed him without question, and he'd be there for Bae regardless. They could be a family in every way but name.

He was dangerously close to blurting this new truth out to her when Bae thankfully interrupted his father before he made a fool of himself.

"Mom! Dad!" he shouted as he ran over to them from the forest's edge. "I found an abandoned baby deer!"

"What do you mean?" Belle asked, standing up and offering Gold her hand.

"I found a deer," Bae explained as his mother helped his father up. "But it was all alone. I think it's mom left it. Or maybe she died."

"Bae," Gold replied with a smile. "The mother probably left it there while she went to get food."

Belle nodded in agreement, but Bae still looked unconvinced.

"Where is it?" she asked him comfortingly.

"Back over there in the forest," Bae said, pointing to where he'd been.

"Tell you what," Gold said, glancing down to where Bae had indicated. "Why don't we have dinner, and then afterward we can go back and check on the fawn and see if it's mom hasn't come back for it by then."

Bae still seemed unsure, but his mother was nodding in agreement with his father and rubbing Bae's back and the boy seemed a little reassured by their confidence.

"Why can't we stay with it to protect it?" he asked.

"If we stay," Belle explained. "Then the mom won't come back. She'll be afraid if she shows us where her baby is we'll hurt it, so she'll stay away until she thinks it's safe for them both."

This seemed to placate him a little, and he settled with them to eat. He remained agitated, though, despite his parents' cheerful conversation. Belle had raised a sweet child, and it almost broke Gold's heart how beautiful that was. Finally, sandwiches were consumed, various other bits had been added (mostly to clean out the pantry, since it was the last day of the trip) and dessert had gone a long way towards soothing Bae's worry. Still, though, no sooner had they finished their meal than Bae was springing back to his feet.

"Let's go check on the baby deer," he insisted, grabbing his dad's arm and pulling him a little.

Once everyone was standing, Bae led them back to where he had found the fawn. Sure enough, the baby was gone.

"See, Bae?" Belle said. "Parents don't leave their babies."

"Your mom's right," Gold added. "That's what being a parent is, after all."

Bae seemed comforted by this new piece of information, as well as having two parents to reassure him. They returned to the clearing as the sun was setting, and sat around talking and laughing as they waited for the stars to come out. They shared favorite memories of the trip, and discussed plans for the rest of the summer. Bae was looking forward to starting day camp, and Belle was looking forward to school starting up again – Gold was just happy to be included. They discussed what sports Bae was planning to start in the coming year, and Gold convinced both that maybe he should attend soccer camp next year. Bae was slightly more interested than Belle was, but she was a good sport about it as always.

Finally, he heard Belle gasp and glanced up.

"Whoa," Bae mumbled reverently.

The sky above them was clear and beautiful, shades of purple visible between the sparkling white of the stars and the inky black night. Occasionally, a shooting star would cut across the sky and one of the three would whisper a wish into the evening, but by and large they were silent from then on with only Belle occasionally breaking the silence by pointing out constellations and mythological tidbits to her son. Eventually, all three were reclining on the blanket with Bae in the middle. Gold indulged himself in the occasional glance to his son and the even less frequent glance to Belle – a part of him wished he could reach across the blanket and take Belle's hand in his, but he knew that would be a step too far. Still, though, they were both the most beautiful things he'd ever seen in his life, and on the next star he sent up the silent prayer that this moment could last forever.


	23. Chapter 23

Anonymous said:

I dunno about fluffy prompts for the adoption verse camping trip, but I have one for the car trip home. Who sings along with whatever music they listen to, who picked it out, who has to be coaxed into joining in, what song makes someone lunge for the volumn control, and who has a surprisingly good voice?

Anonymousnerdgirl said:

Gold has a downward spiral following the vacation: scotch, broken glass, and bad memories.

* * *

The trip to the airport had involved a lot of singing. They'd had radio singalongs on the way up to the cabin, but the way to the airport had been much, much worse. Everyone seemed to be in a mood of forced cheerfulness, leading to Gold coming damn close to changing the station on a few Taylor Swift songs that Belle insisted on yelling the words to at the top of her lungs. He didn't quite have the heart, though. She was having so much fun teasing Bae into joining her that he couldn't be the one to interrupt their fun, in spite of the fact that the pop music stations seemed to play the same twelve songs on repeat.

He wasn't sure how he was going to go back to his life after all of this. Living with the two of them had been magical, and he just wanted to be a more permanent addition to their lives. She must have sensed his mood darkening as they approached the airport, because he felt her hand slowly come to rest on his shoulder. It wasn't a romantic gesture, but that made it even more heartwarming. She was comforting him for no other reason than because he was upset. It took a lot of willpower to turn into the airport rather than just heading back to the cabin and starting their new lives as recluses.

Still, though, he held it together. They got through airport security fine, and even onto the plane without him having a massive panic attack. Sitting on the plane between Belle and Bae as his son looked out the window as the ground rapidly became further and further away, he realized that this was the last of their family being together like this – at least for a little while. He still hoped that Belle might be willing to take a long weekend over Christmas, but that was months away. How would he be able to get through not waking up with Belle and Bae there for breakfast every morning, or fall asleep without saying goodnight to them first?

"Are you okay?" Belle whispered into his ear once the drink cart had come and gone and Bae was settled with a bag of pretzels and a magazine they'd picked up at a newsstand.

"I'm fine," he said a little too fast – even he could hear how fake he sounded and didn't need to see the look on her face to know she wasn't going to let it go. "It's just going to be strange once we get back home is all."

"Everything will be like it was before," she promised. "We're not going anywhere. And he can sleep over as much as you want, too. We'll just have to make sure we're all on the same page with homework."

He knew she had a point, but somehow splitting custody between them was miles away from sharing custody. That's what he wanted, he realized. He wanted to share Bae with Belle. He wanted them to both be equal parents – regardless of his feelings for Belle, he wanted to be a family. Not partners, but a proper _family._

In hindsight, this trip might have been a mistake. He'd teased himself with everything he had never wanted to admit to wanting – Belle and Bae were vital to him, and he desperately wanted to be vital to them as well.

He smiled at her, hoping she would accept that she'd comforted him and leave him be. He just wanted to savor these final moments of happiness with his family. Belle, thankfully, made no move to leave him alone. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder and hooked her arm through his. He closed his eyes and took a breath and for just that moment allowed himself the bliss of being loved even if it wasn't in the way he really wanted.

His home felt lonelier in the absence of Belle and Bae than it ever had before. Every little thing reminded him of them. The door to Bae's room was left open, taunting him with the warmth it possessed when Bae slept over. His table was where they sat and had brunch on Sundays. He didn't have enough memories of them here yet to comfort him through this.

Deciding to forgo unpacking for now, Gold stormed into his office. He threw open the cabinet where he had begun keeping the liquor since his child began staying over more often and pouring a glass of scotch.

It should have been harder to get drunk, it shouldn't come as naturally as breathing anymore. His life was a long string of abandonment. He'd never known his mother, barely known his father, lost a career, a country, and a wife. It shouldn't hurt so damn much to simply be away from two people he'd known for two months.

He knew intellectually that they would return. He could get in his car and drive over there and be welcomed into their home for the entire rest of the day, but it was so hard not to feel like he'd lost them forever when he was used to them being _here _and now they were _there. _They hadn't really left, they weren't ever his to begin with.

His eyes lit upon Bae's CPS file – the one thing of his son he had in the room, and a reminder of all the ways he'd failed him before they even met. Well, he wasn't particularly fond of anything in this room anyway.

His tumbler made an extremely satisfying noise as it shattered against the wall, followed by a paperweight and a jar. His papers were shoved off the desk into a heap he was sure he'd regret come morning, but the wanton destruction soothed his nerves. He even took out a lamp with his cane before sinking into a chair and sobbing into his hands.

He vaguely became aware of a gentle beep coming from the phone in his pocket. Fishing it out, he glanced at the screen. It was a text from Belle.

_Dinner tomorrow? ;-)_

Gold wanted to cry with relief. His room was destroyed, he was weak, but two words and a smiley face and suddenly the entire world was somehow better than it had been before.

_Of course,_ he texted back, before adding _anything you'd like me to bring? _As an afterthought.

_Hmmm...wine please._

He suppressed a grin at that. She hadn't been lying when she'd told him he was going to spoil her with better wine than she was used to, but he'd do anything to keep her spoiled if he could possibly manage it. If Belle wanted wine, Belle would have the very best he could offer – even if it was just to go with baked chicken and broccoli.

But before he got too far ahead of himself, he needed to unpack.


	24. Chapter 24

queueingtocomplain said:

Maybe for later in the adopted!verse, but Belle and Gold go to a parent's evening for Bae together, and everyone assumes that they're married.

Anonymous said:

Hi! I love your Adoption series and wanted to send you a prompt. I hope you can use it :) It's ok if you can't, I imagine you're sitting on dozens and dozens of ideas! Ok, prompt: Bae invites Gold to a parents event at his school and Gold discovers how hard Belle has had to work to give her son the best education she can. Or something along those lines...Love this story, thanks for sharing it! X

endangeredslug said:

Has someone prompted Gold attends his first parent teacher meeting yet?

Or parent's night at school. That's also when a lot of volunteer signups happen.

anonymousnerdgirl said:

Adoption!prompt: Belle introduces Gold to Frederick Knight and his wife Abigail. The four of them talk easily until Abigail remarks on what a good couple Belle and Gold are and invites them on a double date. The awkward moment is interrupted by Bae's boisterous argument with his teammate- a little blonde girl. (sorry it got long)

* * *

In the weeks since their return from family vacation, things had settled into a comforting sort of chaos that, while not exactly routine, was still a nice change. Bae was sleeping at either parent's house nearly interchangeably, which Arthur seemed wholly delighted by. Belle wasn't as enthused, but she did enjoy having a little bit of alone time for the first time in ages – at least at first.

Initially, she'd relished having some time to herself and chances to engage in long abandoned hobbies. She hadn't quite realized though how very few hobbies she had to begin with. Motherhood had so wholly consumed her life that it took until Bae had other things to do that Belle realized that she didn't. On the plus side, she was getting a lot more work done. Anton hardly knew what to do with himself when Belle was actually there all day every day. The office and the storefront had never been cleaner, and the books would have put any accountant to shame.

They were talking more about him buying in as a partner, too. Belle wasn't entirely sure how she'd afford it, but she was beginning to grow weary of the flower shop and if she was supposed to be part of a bigger family now she needed to have more free time. She'd have to redo her home budget. Maybe Arthur could help her pick some investments as well to make up the difference. Either way, it all boiled down to Belle's heart not being in her father's shop anymore. It was somewhere else.

She'd hoped whatever feelings for her son's father had developed over vacation would have cleared up once they were living in separate houses again, and it had definitely helped, but it hadn't solved the problem either. Belle had been surprised by the strength of her feelings toward Arthur. She wasn't used to feeling attraction to _anyone_, and this was all just so very new. A bit alarming, really. She'd dedicated herself to pretending like everything was okay, because everything had to be okay. There was just way too much at stake for her to develop feelings for her son's father.

She'd invited him to parents' night at Bae's school in mid-August. It was an annual event a week before school. Essentially, it was a volunteer drive, but it also doubled as a chance for the parents to meet the teachers and each other (and since the school provided free childcare for the event, it was one of Belle's favorite nights). For Arthur, it would be his official introduction to the school. He'd met a few of these parents at Bae's basketball games, but this was an entirely different beast. Here, he'd be expected to socialize and discuss the matters of raising a child fluently with people who had been parents for the last eleven years. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him more nervous, and she'd seen him the day he'd met his son.

"You'll be fine," she reminded him again, taking his arm and leading him into room 212B – Mrs. Blanchard-Nolan's fourth grade classroom. "It's not like anyone here will be waiting to judge you. And Mary Margaret's daughter is one of Bae's friends. It'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say," he huffed. "You actually have met these people before."

She rolled her eyes at him as they crossed the threshold into the classroom. It was a bright, cheerful room with an assortment of educational posters and bulletin boards bearing the names of all the children Bae would be sharing a room with this year. His teacher, Mary Margaret Blanchard-Nolan (and didn't they tease about that mouthful of a name?) was a pretty woman about Belle's age with black hair in a pixie cut.

"Belle," she gushed on seeing them walk in. "I'm so glad you made it! And this must be the father I've heard so much about!"

"Yes," Belle gestured between them as she spoke. "Mary Margaret, this is Bae's dad Arthur Gold. Arthur, this is Mary Margaret Blanchard-Nolan. She's Bae's teacher and her daughter Emma is one of his friends."

She could see his cheek twitch at her name but bless him, he kept it together.

"It's so good to meet you," Mary Margaret said earnestly, shaking his hand politely. "When I heard about the whole situation I was so excited for Bae. And for you, of course!"

Belle could practically feel Arthur relaxing at Mary Margaret's easy acceptance of him. She hoped it eased some of his worry about people judging him for only just now finding out about his child.

"It's been a busy summer," Arthur finally said. "But rewarding."

"I can't even imagine," Mary Margaret said cheerfully. "My husband, David, is around here someplace. He was dying to meet you. He's just desperate for another dad to volunteer, though."

She said the last part in a conspiratorial whisper that Belle could tell Arthur wasn't sure what to do with.

"By the way," Belle broke in. "You haven't told me how your trip was?"

"Oh, Florida was wonderful," Mary Margaret replied. "Dad's doing alright, but it's been hard on him since my mom died. Emma had a blast, though."

Belle nodded and gave Arthur's arm a gentle squeeze as Mary Margaret launched into a recap of the trip. Her mother had passed unexpectedly a few years earlier and her father had relocated afterward. It had been a bit of a touchy issue, with Mary Margaret not being sure her father was making the right choice, so she'd spent a significant portion of summer vacation living down there with Emma and her dad. David had been left largely to his own devices until he was able to fly down to join them for two weeks and collect his wife and child.

Fortunately, it was technically Mary Margaret's open house and soon enough she was called away to meet some other parents, leaving Belle and Arthur alone.

"She seemed nice," he begrudgingly admitted.

"She's very nice," Belle assured him. "And she's known Bae since preschool."

"It's a very tight knit group, isn't it?"

She shrugged.

"I suppose so, most of these kids have been together at least a few years. The town isn't that big."

He smiled and began scanning the room a little. Belle joined him, trying to see it as he had. He would, of course, recognize Michael Tillman who was talking to a handful of other dads – including David Blanchard-Nolan – in a corner. Belle hadn't spoken to him since their date, she realized. It was an odd realization, because in the past they had been the two third wheels of the classroom parents and as a result had been thrown together on more than a few occasions. She also suspected at least a few of the other mothers thought that they should get together just to even things out. It was awkward.

"Anyone else I should know?" Arthur asked her as she glanced around the room.

She hummed a little as she glanced around.

"Oh, that's someone!" she exclaimed as she saw Abigail and Frederick Knight entering the room.

She seized Arthur's arm, pulling him over to the couple. Unlike most everyone else here, Abigail and Fred didn't have children. Fred was the gym teacher and would be making the rounds to all the classes tonight, and Abigail was an attorney. More specifically, she was Belle's adoption attorney.

"Abigail!" Belle called to the other woman even as she was pulling Arthur over. "How have you been?"

The two women exchanged cheek kisses in greeting.

"Belle, it's been too long!" Abigail said, glancing over to Arthur. "And who's this?"

"This is Arthur Gold," Belle explained. "He's Bae's birth dad! Arthur, this is the gym coach Frederick Knight and Bae's attorney Abigail."

"My son has an attorney?" he said with an amused smirk.

"I handled the adoption," Abigail explained, shaking Arthur's hand. "And I was also his advocate in the custody dispute with your ex-wife."

There was something strange in Abigail's demeanor that Belle couldn't quite put her finger on, but luckily Fred jumped right in.

"So that sounds like an interesting story," he said with a smile on his face. "How'd that all go down?"

"Basically, my ex-wife didn't tell anyone he was my child," Arthur explained. "And it took me ten years to figure it out. So now we're making up for lost time."

"That's great," Fred replied. "Bae's a great kid. Star of a few of my teams."

"So I've heard, though I've only had a chance to see him at basketball."

"He's got real promise," Fred continued – boy did he know how to talk to dads. "But he's really dedicated, which in this age group is the most important thing."

"Oh God," Abigail said with an indulgent smile. "Come on, Belle, I can see exactly where this is going and I'm not going to interrupt the recruitment speech."

Fred chuckled and launched into a conversation about the developmental milestones in team sports as Abigail took Belle aside, pulling her into the hallway as soon as they were out of earshot of the men.

"Belle," she gasped. "What the hell is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why didn't you tell me his bio dad was in the picture?"

"It didn't seem like a big deal."

Belle was so confused she wasn't sure what to say. Wasn't it a good thing that Bae's father wanted to be involved in his life?"

"Bio dad who never lost his parental rights trumps adopted mom every time, Belle," Abigail said. "He could get custody tomorrow if he asked for it."

Belle's blood ran cold as the import of Abigail's words worked its way into her brain.

"Tell me you at least have a custody agreement in place!"

"I...no," Belle admitted. "We've basically been swapping every day or two."

"Oh my God, Belle," Abigail had her face in her hands. "Do you know who that is? Aside from being Bae's legal parent, I mean?"

She liked to think she knew who Arthur was, but wasn't sure what Abigail meant so she simply shook her head.

"That is Arthur Gold. He used to be _the_ family law attorney in this part of the state. They called him _Rumpelstiltskin_ because he was so good at getting children."

"I don't know what you want me to say," Belle sounded calmer than she felt. Her stomach had fallen to her toes and she felt light-headed but somehow her voice was even. "I don't think he wants to take Bae away from me."

"Listen to me," Abigail said firmly. "You need to get him to agree to a legal custody agreement as of yesterday. I'm so, so serious."

"How do I do that?"

"He obviously likes you," the blonde said. "Use that. Do whatever you have to do. I don't care if you have to sleep with him first you do it."

The blood that had drained from Belle's head now rushed to her cheeks in a blush.

"That was hyperbole," Abigail said apologetically. "What I mean is, he obviously likes you. Use whatever he feels for you and get him to agree to you having some rights."

"I can't take advantage," she protested.

"It's not taking advantage," Abigail argued. "He's known all of this all along and he didn't tell you. I'm not even charging you for this advice, that's how serious I am that you've got to do this."

Belle's tongue felt heavy in her mouth and she couldn't swallow, but she nodded anyway. Somehow it hadn't ever occurred to her that she could lose her son in all of this. Why hadn't she called Abigail the moment Arthur arrived at her door? Because that would have put him on the defensive, that's why. He'd backed off and so had she.

Belle trusted him, though. He'd been nothing but good to her, and he'd had months in which to make his move and hadn't. But then, now that the idea was in her head she couldn't shake it. She somehow walked back into the classroom, even as she wanted to run into the gym, grab her son from whatever game he was playing with his friends, and escape with him. But she was too involved now to leave, and a part of her didn't want to.

The fact remained, though, that Arthur had lied to her. Not that he'd ever told her a falsehood, but he'd lied by omission. If what Abigail said was correct (and Belle had no reason to doubt it was) then he'd known all along that he could take her son away from her at any moment, and he'd had the ability to do so the entire time. He hadn't. He could have. Why hadn't he told her?


	25. Chapter 25

accio-firewhiskey said:

Adopt prompt: Belle is shocked and strangely attracted but also wary upon finding out Gold has a law degree

Tinuviel-undomiel said:

Something I thought of for you your Adoption verse, even if Belle and Gold get along, won't they still need to go to court so Gold can be formally recognized as Bae's father?

* * *

Fred Knight could talk about the importance of physical education to a child's development longer and in more depth than any man Gold had ever met. He had heard all about fine motor skills and gross motor skills and attention spans since Belle had left. Abigail had been right, it was a recruitment speech. He'd made the mistake of mentioning that he used to be a footballer and now Fred was explaining how they had need of a second soccer coach.

"It's a pretty simple job," Fred explained. "David Blanchard-Nolan already coaches, and he's great with the kids, but strategy isn't exactly his strong suit."

"I could help with that," Gold conceded. "But I'm afraid I may not be up to the activity level."

He tapped his leg with his cane and Fred glanced down quickly with no sign of awkwardness.

"Oh, that's not a problem," he continued. "David can do all the drills. In fact, hold on, he's right over there."

Fred waved over Gold's shoulder to a tall blond man standing in a group with a few other parents. The man who must be David nodded and jogged over to join them.

"Hey," he said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"David, this is Arthur Gold," Fred introduced them. "He's Bailey's dad. Arthur, this is David. His daughter Emma is on Bae's soccer team."

"Great to meet you," David said, extending a hand to Gold who shook it. "Bae's a great kid."

"I was just talking to Arthur about helping out with the team this year," Fred said. "He used to play semi-pro in Scotland."

"Really?" David's eyes got larger at the news. "That would be great. I could always use more help."

"It's been a few years since I played," Gold demurred. "But I'll think about it."

It would be nice to spend more time with his son, and he wanted desperately to be more involved with Bae's school and the community. It was definitely an idea worth considering, at least. He was saved from the hard sell by the return of Abigail and Belle.

"Are you too bullying him into coaching?" Abigail said teasingly, draping her arms around her husband affectionately. "Don't let them push you around, he thinks everyone should volunteer."

"No, no," he assured her. "He's actually making a very persuasive argument. I'm seriously considering it."

He glanced to Belle, who was giving him a funny look but had returned to his side. If they had been alone, he'd have asked her if something was wrong but standing amidst a group of strangers seemed like neither the time or the place.

"I should really be heading to the other classrooms anyway," Fred said apologetically. "It's been great meeting you, Arthur. We should all get together sometime outside of school."

It took a moment to register Fred's meaning, but Abigail quickly interfered.

"Oh, honey," she said softly. "They're not together."

Fred glanced back and forth between Arthur and Belle quickly, comprehension dawning on his face.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "You're just...well, never mind. My mistake."

"Come on," Abigail said with a smile. "There are other dads for you to work on. It was nice seeing you again, Belle."

The two made their retreat, down the hall to another classroom, leaving Belle and Arthur with David.

"So, David," Belle said sweetly. "How was Florida?"

The other man launched into a description of the trip. He was being polite in front of a stranger, but he got the feeling there was more to it than he was letting on. "Finally, though, David excused himself to Gold's promise that he would definitely consider helping with the team.

"David's a good guy," Belle said idly after the other man had left. "He's good with the kids...and very honest."

That seemed like a strange thing for her to mention, but he didn't want to push it.

"Are you alright?" he asked her finally.

"I'm fine," she sighed. "Just tired."

"We can go," he offered. "I've apparently been assigned a job for the school year anyway and I met his teacher. What else is there?"

"Not a lot," she admitted. "I'm already one of the room mom's myself so I won't be doing any extra volunteering."

He made a mental note to figure out what a _room mom_ was later. There was so much to learn about all this.

"Let's get Bae and go home," he said finally. "If you're really ready to go, I mean."

Belle glanced around before turning towards him.

"You know, I think I am."

The kids were being kept in the gym under the watchful eyes of a handful of parent volunteers. They had set out a pile of balls and various other things for the kids to use to amuse themselves with. It took a few minutes for Gold to identify his child in the mass of eleven-year-olds playing what seemed to be the least organized game of dodge ball in the world, but eventually he spotted Bae in the corner of the gym with a little blonde girl.

Part of him felt a swell of paternal pride that his son was talking to a pretty girl, but at the same time given his own love life (or decade long lack thereof), that probably wasn't something he could really take credit for.

"Oh lord," Belle muttered, hurrying over to where Bae stood.

Confused, Arthur followed her. It wasn't until they got within earshot that he realized her distress was because Bae and the girl were arguing loudly.

"You were tagged out, Emma!" Bae insisted. "It hit you!"

"You're a liar," Emma said in a huff. "It didn't touch me. You're lying!"

"I'm not a liar!"

"Prove it!"

Bae and the girl seemed on the verge of coming to blows when Belle arrived and put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Can't you two have one conversation that doesn't end like this?" she said with a grimace.

"She started it," Bae supplied.

"Did not," Emma replied.

"Did too."

"I don't care," Belle interrupted. "It makes absolutely no difference to me who started what. But you shouldn't call each other names."

Bae and Emma looked at each other as though it hadn't occurred to either one that there was anything wrong with what they had been doing, though he was sure Belle had probably had this conversation with them on numerous occasions.

"Why not?" Emma finally said. Bae seemed equally confused.

"Because it's not nice," Belle replied. "Anyway, Bae, your dad and I are leaving early."

Both children let out matching whines, Emma lamenting who she'd play with now and Bae not wanting to leave early. Belle directed Emma towards a little redheaded boy named August and informed Bae that if he truly wanted to see Emma that badly they could arrange for her to come over that weekend.

Something still felt off about Belle, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was as they said their goodbyes and he watched them drive off.

Belle was scarcely able to sleep that night. Arthur had lied to her – well, he'd hidden the truth which was basically the same. He could have told her! She'd never doubted him before and even when she'd barely known him she'd always trusted him. Knowing that he hadn't extended her the same courtesy was what was killing her. As soon as it was reasonably polite, she called Mary Margaret to ask the other woman if she'd mind watching Bae. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) Emma had been on a tear that morning and Mary Margaret was more than happy with anything that would hopefully distract her daughter from the swath of destruction that she'd been creating in the house.

After dropping her son off for the playdate, Belle wasn't sure what her plan was but wasn't surprised at all when she found herself outside of Arthur's house. She knew she should stop and think this through, but even as she was knocking on his door no plan was forming. His face lit up at the sight of her, and that more than anything told her what to do.

"You bastard!" she shouted, storming past him into the house.

He was stunned, backing away and only barely seeming to remember to shut the door after her.

"Were you ever planning on telling me?" she continued as his mouth opened and closed as though he couldn't quite figure out what he wanted to say.

"Belle..." he finally forced out in a strangled sounding voice. "What's going on?"

"Abigail!" she shouted. "Were you planning on ever telling me that my adoption is invalid, _Rumpelstiltskin?_"

She practically snarled the last word and felt just a little bit vindicated when he visibly paled.

"What did she tell you?" he said in a tight voice.

"That you're apparently some terrifying family law attorney," she ranted. "And apparently I'm not Bae's legal guardian. Oh and also that I should use your feelings for me to get you to agree to me having custody."

She deflated now that she'd gotten it out, leaning against the wall.

"Is that all?" he said.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged.

"And say what, exactly?" he finally replied with a challenge in his voice. "I wasn't going to make any moves against you and I told you that. When I have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

"This!" she heard her voice squeak. "This is a reason not to trust you."

"So it is," he said with a sigh. "What difference does it make now?"

"I'm not his mother anymore!" she said through the tears she hadn't known were coming. "You showed up and now I'm not his mother."

"You're always his mother," he replied with a shocked expression on his face. "You'll never stop being his mother, even if I had taken custody. You _know_ that, Belle."

He looked like he was going to hug her if she'd let him, but she wasn't sure that she could handle that at the moment.

"If I were one of your clients," she said suddenly. "What would you tell me to do?"

"If you were..." he sighed. "Probably what she did. Use my...affection for you to get me to agree to a formal custody agreement. Though I might have thrown in something about not storming into my house and yelling at me."

He said the last bit with a shy little half smile that broke her heart.

"And would that have worked? Aside from the yelling, I mean."

He didn't answer her right away, instead looking anywhere but at her as his fingers twitched against his cane.

"Yes," he said finally. "It would have. I'd do anything for you, Belle. You know that."

_Oh._

She was going to pretend like she didn't understand what he'd meant by that, and he seemed content to pretend like he hadn't meant it. It was too much right now, and the only way she could handle the rest of it was if she didn't think about _that_.

"We need a custody agreement, don't we?" she said at last, conveniently sidestepping the uncomfortable truth.

"We do."

"So how does that work?"

"You'll need to contact your attorney," he said slowly, sounding tired. "And I'll get in touch with my own. You're going to need to go through the adoption again, I'm afraid."

"Can I just adopt him without you giving up rights"

He shrugged.

"It's...not exactly common but I don't see why not, if I consent to it," he glanced up to her. "And I will, of course. You're always his mother, Belle. I wouldn't take him from you."

"I know," she replied. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"It's no matter," he said flippantly. "I should have been honest to begin with."

"Why weren't you?"

"What would you have said if I had been, back then?"

Belle thought about it for a second. She'd have panicked, of course. And then what? Probably circled her wagons and hoped for the best.

"You still should have said something later."

"I should have," he admitted. "There was just never a good time."

She took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling and letting the anger dissipate.

"I understand," she said finally. "I wouldn't have then, but I think I do now."


	26. Chapter 26

accio-firewhiskey said:

Adopt prompt: Belle tries on a ring in Gold's shop

Anonymous said:

Gold wants to give Bae some sort of very expensive gift for his birthday. Or Christmas if Bae's birthday isn't before then.

* * *

Gold was almost relieved that Belle knew the truth about his former career now. It wasn't something he'd ever truly meant to keep a secret, there had just never been a good time to tell her. It had gotten out of hand and he was just happy to have it out in the open. The other thing, perhaps, he was less enthused about her knowing. Or did she know? He'd never come out and said it, after all, and neither one had said anything about it afterward. Maybe in the stress of it all she'd forgotten or hadn't noticed. Was it possible that he was that lucky?

It had been a few weeks since the parent's night, school had started, and Bae's birthday was rapidly approaching. Attorneys had been contacted and there was paperwork to be done. Thankfully, with both parents in agreement on everything this was pretty straight forward, but it always took time when lawyers had to be involved – which was one of the reasons he had gotten out of the game in the first place. The other reason (which was far more painful to think of) was that after Milah left and then he lost his second chance at a family with Cora his heart just wasn't in it anymore. Watching families fall apart had taken too much out of him and he'd had to stop while he still could. The real estate investments were making enough by then that he hadn't needed the income anyway, so he had purchased a pawn shop and quit his day job. A pawn shop that Belle was currently standing in idly poking around in a jewelry case and waiting for him to finish up writing out a receipt for a watch before they could discuss Bae's birthday.

As his customer was finally out the door, he turned towards the case she had been fiddling in to see she had pulled out about half the contents out and was now wearing them. She flashed an innocent smile as he took in the necklaces she had draped around her neck and dangled over her hair like tiaras, as well as the bracelets lining her arms and the numerous rings on her fingers. He was stunned, but doubted it was in the way she anticipated. This seemed to have been intended as a prank, but she looked like a pagan princess and he was struck by the urge to fall at her feet. Instead, he decided to pretend he hadn't noticed, coming to stand next to her at the case.

"So," he said as casually as possible. "What do you usually do for his birthday?"

"We'll have some of his friends over," she explained, pulling a beautiful antique opal ring out of the case and sliding it onto her right hand ring finger. "Just a pizza and cake party, really. Probably some movies and then they'll go outside and destroy my yard with Nerf guns. He's eleven, that's what they do."

"And during all this, you'll be doing what?"

"Herding them from room to room, feeding them, and looking forward to when they all go home and I can have a drink and a bath."

"Which means that I'll be..."

"Doing exactly the same thing as me," she said with a sly grin (presumably not realizing she'd just implied he would be taking a bath with her). "Aren't you glad you're a dad now?"

Well, yes he was but when she put it like _that_ it certainly sounded ominous.

"How about presents?" he said instead of answering her question. "What are you getting him?"

"There will be presents," she assured him. "His friends will all bring one each and I was planning to talk with you before I got him anything to make sure we didn't accidentally duplicate."

He thought for a few moments.

"I was thinking maybe a laptop," he said.

A handful of bracelets she'd been toying with clattered onto the glass top of the display case and Belle nervously snatched them back.

"Unless," he continued. "You think that's a bad idea."

"No, no," she didn't look at him, just kept rearranging the bracelets. "I think that he would really like that, actually."

She was upset, but he wasn't sure why and he wasn't sure how to ask her, either.

"So what are you getting him?" he asked, hoping to redirect the conversation someplace safer.

"Just some games," she said with a shrug. "Nothing special."

He felt himself wince at the change in her tone, but he wasn't sure what else to say to her.

"Anyway," she was changing the topic and her voice reflected that. "I didn't just come to talk about his birthday."

"Oh yes," he replied. "The papers."

His attorney, Regina, had drawn up a custody agreement for Belle to go over. Basically it was laying down the arrangement that they had already been practicing – Bae would live with his mother during the week of the school year and his father on the weekends. Holidays would be alternated, and during the summer there would be two week blocks switched between the two of them. Nobody had any real plans for this to be followed to the letter, but this had to be filed after Belle's adoption went through. He'd already taken a paternity test, so at this point it was simply a matter of filing all the correct paperwork and getting everything rubber stamped by the judge.

He fetched the custody papers from the desk in his office, and by the time he'd returned Belle had shed half of her jewelry, laying it neatly on the counter as she pulled pieces off. Frankly, she could have walked out with it still on if it would have put a smile back on her face. He didn't give a damn about the pieces themselves – just about her.

"Here it is," he said as he handed the packet to her. "You'll probably want Abigail to look over that before you sign it, just to be safe."

She took a deep breath and looked at him for a long time, searching his face for something. He started putting away her pile of jewelry as she studied him just to have something to do with his hands. Seeming to like what she saw, she reached over and grabbed a pen, initialing a few places where Regina had indicated and finally signing the last page before handing it back to him.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said softly. "This could say literally anything, Belle."

"I trust you," she replied. "This doesn't work if we don't trust each other."

"You're right," he agreed. "But you still shouldn't sign something without reading it first, at least."

"Is there anything in there I didn't want?"

"No," he admitted. "It's exactly what we talked about."

"Then I trust you."

"Fine," he sighed. "But please don't do that again."

"I'll keep it in mind next time we have a child together," she said flippantly as she continued pulling off rings.

He had been putting away a necklace as she said that, but the comment itself and all that it implied startled him so badly he ended up knocking over the display he had been working on as well as the two next to it.

"Please do," he choked out, hurriedly righting the case. The image of Belle carrying his child had seared itself into his brain and he was having trouble functioning now that it was there. Belle with her hand on her growing belly. Belle letting him feel as the child kicked the first time. Belle picking out baby names. Belle holding their baby for the first time. Oh God, _getting_ Belle pregnant.

"Oh damn," she muttered and he looked up at her for the first time. "This one's stuck."

She was pulling on the opal ring he'd watched her slide on earlier.

"Let me see," he said gently, and she held her hand out to him. "Is it uncomfortable?"

"No," she said after a minute. "I don't think so."

He wiggled the ring on her finger. There was room, she wasn't in any danger of losing circulation, it was just caught on her knuckle.

"Why don't you just keep it?" he finally replied.

"I couldn't," she blurted out. "It's too much. I just need to get it off, is all."

"It's not too much."

"Then how much is it?" she challenged.

He looked down to her hand (which he just realized he was still holding). That particular piece was an art deco design from the 20s in white gold, with a large central stone surrounded by a circle of small pearls and two larger pieces of white jade on the top and bottom. There was some lacquer the same blue as her eyes inlaid on the band in a geometric pattern. The craftsmanship was incredible, and it was worth about seven-hundred dollars. There was absolutely no way he could tell her that.

"I could probably get a couple hundred dollars for it," he fibbed. "It's not a big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal," she insisted, pulling on the ring again until the skin of her finger was red and irritated.

"It's really not," he insisted, grabbing her hand back to stop her from hurting herself. "For one thing, if you're going to do that then I have a jar of lubricant specifically for getting rings off, but honestly I want you to have it."

"It doesn't fit," she whimpered a little and he could see tears coming up in her eyes.

"If it's hurting you I'll get the jar and we can take it off," he said softly. "And then I can resize it and you can have it."

It was strange how badly he wanted her to have it, now that he'd thought of it. He needed Belle to have this ring.

"It doesn't hurt," she replied. "I can barely feel it."

"Then why don't you want it?"

"It's just...it's too much," she said. "You give us too much. You give me too much. I can't take it."

She was still wearing a necklace on her head with the charm resting between her eyes and he could barely focus on what she was saying from the beauty of it.

"So?" he finally said. "Why does it bother you? What's the difference between the ring and the trip and the game system I bought him when we met?"

"The trip was for Bae," she bristled a little. "And so was the game. This is for me, and we're not...you don't owe me things."

"The trip was for both of you," he replied. He was actually a little stunned, he hadn't realized she felt that way about it. "And if you want to get technical, this is ultimately Bae's anyway – whether I keep it or you take it."

"You're twisting the facts."

"Not really," he replied. "What other heirs do you think I _have?_ Either Bae gets the few hundred dollars from this ring, or he gets one more ring in the inventory. Or you take it and he gets his mother's ring to give to his wife or daughter. Which do you think is really more valuable?"

"What about what you would do with the money?"

"What do you imagine I do with myself and my money?" he asked her earnestly, this was something he'd wondered about for awhile. "What am I possibly spending it on that isn't you or Bae? Everything I have or ever will have is going to go to one or both of you. Everything."

She didn't reply, and she was still staring him down, but she didn't look as upset now so he knew he was making headway at least.

"You still shouldn't give it to me," she said softly. "This is the kind of ring you give to a wife or girlfriend. I'm neither of those things."

"So I'm giving it to the mother of my child instead," he said with a shrug. "I don't _have_ a wife or a girlfriend, Belle, and I don't know that I'll ever have one again. I have you and that's enough. This is enough."

He could see the moment she decided to believe him, her shoulders sagging a little as she nodded.

"Alright," she said with a smile. "But only for Bae."

"Only for Bae," he agreed, but his heart wasn't really in it. He wanted her to smile at him again like she had at the pier when he'd given her the bracelet. "But if you want to keep the necklace, I'm going to have to insist you pay for that."

He said the last bit with a teasing lilt to his voice that did get her to smile as she reached up and untangled the chain from her hair.

"I'd forgotten about that one," she confessed as he put it away. "I always used to play with my mother's jewelry like that when I was a girl. I'd cover myself in it and pretend to be a princess."

"I'm sure you were lovely," he said and he meant it. She would have been beautiful. Her daughter would be beautiful, too, if she'd had one.

"I looked ridiculous," she admitted. "But it was fun."

"You're welcome to play dress-up in the shop anytime."

"Careful," she giggled. "You may never get rid of me."

Well that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, now was it? But he couldn't admit to that so instead he smiled and inclined his head to her.

"Anyway," she said as she gathered her purse. "I should go get Bae. Practice should be over soon, thank goodness. Thank you for the ring, Arthur."

"You're very welcome," he answered her as she stepped out the door into the street on her way to gather their son, leaving him alone with his money.

He had some calls to make.


	27. Chapter 27

truerumbelle said:

Adoption!verse prompt. Can we have a reversal now? Arthur runs into a former co-worker that he has a friendly (just friendly) relationship with. Maybe someone who supported Arthur as a friend through his breakup with Milah, and the discovery of Bae. The affection they show each other leaves Belle a bit jealous.

* * *

As awkward as it felt to be going to court with (not against, and she needed to remember that – they were in full agreement on everything) a man she considered to be her best friend, a part of Belle was glad that it would soon be over. It had always been in the back of her mind that this could come, and being able to handle it amicably was such a relief that even the presence of two attorneys couldn't sour her mood – although perhaps one of the attorneys could.

No, that wasn't fair. Regina Mills had done nothing to Belle. In fact, the taller woman had been unfailingly polite. Regina was the consummate professional with her, and damn close to friendly with Abigail. Unfortunately, she was _very_ friendly with Arthur. Belle had asked him once (as casually as she could) how he'd met Regina. She'd interned for him in law school, and afterward he had apparently sought her out, taken her under his wing, and generally groomed her as his successor. There was – if not affection between them then there was certainly respect and camaraderie. It was the kind of relationship Belle had never known him to have with anyone, and closer than she'd seen him be with anyone but herself and Bae.

The jealousy was a new sensation for Belle. She'd been jealous of things before, of course, but never people really. Her ex, George, had been the sort to attract a lot of female attention but for some reason it hadn't really bothered her. She hadn't had any reason to suspect him of wandering, and if he had she'd never felt like he was an integral part of her life no matter how serious they'd ben. Being jealous of Arthur (and for such a silly reason) was extremely uncomfortable for her, especially given that he and Regina had a purely professional relationship and he and Belle weren't together by her own choice – so what right did she even have to feel this way?

Arthur and Regina were speaking in low tones when Belle and Abigail approached them, only breaking apart when they were within a few feet of each other. Arthur looked pleased with himself, and Regina looked inscrutable. Belle wasn't really sure what was going on, but she wasn't really comfortable with it.

"Good morning," Abigail greeted the two.

"Indeed," Regina replied with a shark-like smile. "Any time I'm getting paid for everyone to agree is a very good day."

Abigail and Arthur both chuckled, and Belle felt like the odd man out for not understanding the joke. Well, no, she understood it, she just lacked a cultural reference point for why it was funny. This was a little like being a tourist in a foreign country where she knew the language but had no idea of the culture. It made her feel small.

Eventually, Arthur's eyes landed on her sullen face and he cleared his throat.

"Shall we?" he said finally, gesturing towards the office where they would be going over final documents in preparation for Belle's appearance before a judge in order to adopt Bae again. It had been a stressful few weeks.

Regina and Abigail preceded Belle into the room, and as she walked in she felt Arthur's hand hovering at the small of her back but never actually touching her. Something about the heat of his body seeping into her skin propped her up a little bit, though, and she was glad for it. She could do this, they were so close to having all the complications worked out at which point she could deal with the rest of this far more easily.

"Alright," Regina said, suddenly all business. "The custody agreement I drafted has been signed by both parties, so we've only got a few more details to work out."

Abigail shot Belle a look, she hadn't been happy on finding out her client had signed the agreement without reading it first – thought she'd begrudgingly admitted (after reading her own copy) that it had contained exactly what Arthur said it did.

"As far as I know," Abigail interjected. "The only thing remaining to discuss is my client's new adoption."

"That," Regina said calmly, "and the child support."

Belle startled a little bit, looking over to Arthur. He had a reassuring look on his face, but she was suspicious. They'd never talked about this before.

"I assume you have a proposal?" Abigail said smoothly, Belle had known the other woman long enough to know that she didn't like surprises and especially not ones that took place in a meeting.

"Of course," Regina replied as she slid some papers across the table towards them. "I'm sure you'll find it's quite generous."

Belle leaned over to read the paper as Abigail did. Most of the legalese was beyond her, but she certainly knew that she was the Plaintiff and he was the Defendant, and that he was basically proposing to double her annual income out of his own pocket.

"What is this?" Belle blurted out.

"It's far more than you'd get from a court order," Regina replied, turning towards Abigail. "Which your attorney will tell you, I'm sure."

"Give us a minute," Abigail answered, leaning to whisper into Belle's ear. "She's right though, in this state you'd probably get about eight-hundred dollars plus the cost of child care and health insurance."

"I don't need his money," Belle replied sharply, affronted that anyone was suggesting such a thing. "Any of it. And certainly not this much."

"Belle," Arthur said from his side of the table. "Just think about it, please?"

"No!" she exclaimed, clenching her hands under the table and feeling the opal ring he'd given her dig into her skin. She had half a mind to rip it off and throw it at him. "We've talked about this, Arthur. And my mind hasn't changed!"

Arthur sighed, turning to Regina and Abigail finally.

"Can we take a break?" he asked.

"Good idea," Belle replied grabbing her purse.

"I meant, I'd like them to leave so we can talk."

Regina raised her eyebrows at Abigail and Belle was fighting the urge to slap the look off her face. Regina was beauty polished to a fine point, and Belle suddenly felt small and poor and frumpy.

"Belle," Abigail said, pulling her aside for a minute. "We've known each other a very long time and you know I love the both of you, but you need to seriously think about why you're turning this down and whether it's really in your best interests."

She nodded as the other women left, leaving her alone with her son's father.

"What was that all about?" she said to him as soon as they were alone. "How dare you spring that on me this way?"

"How dare I?" he parroted her. "How dare I what? I am offering you help...for both of you, not just Bae."

"I don't need your charity," she fumed. "We got along just fine without you."

"It's not charity, Belle," he replied. "It's child support. And I never said you didn't get along fine without me."

"Then why are you trying to give us this money?"

"Because he's my son," he said incredulously. "Because he's my son and I want to help him. Just because you _can_ support him by yourself doesn't mean you have to, Belle."

"We don't need your money," she insisted. "What you're doing is just to make yourself feel better, not me."

"I'm not doing it so that anyone feels better," he said as calmly as she'd ever heard him. "I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do."

She was livid. She knew it was unreasonable, she knew he had a point, and she knew (though she'd never admit it) that she could use the money. A child was expensive, it would give her the ability to work less, it would let her do more for her son, it would do so many things. She couldn't help her pride, though.

Belle had done her best for Bae. She had opened her home to him, she'd opened her heart to him. She'd sacrificed dreams and grad school and countless nights of sleep assuring that he would have the very best she could provide. To have this man who had never had to give up a god damn thing for him come along and act like he could have done better...

"He's my son!" she shouted, slamming her hand on the table finally. "He's mine and I raised him."

He was dumbstruck at her comment, staring at her as though she had grown a second head.

"I did everything I could for Bae," she continued. "He has always had everything he needed. He's been loved and protected his whole life. _I_ did that. I was up with him when he couldn't sleep, I nursed him through every fever. I did the best I could do with what I had and you can't take that away from me. You can't buy him away from me."

She didn't realize she was crying until she was done, but her face was hot and wet from tears and he was clenching and unclenching his hands on the table as he stared at her. She felt empty now that she'd finally said it. She'd been bottling this up for months, hating herself for even thinking it.

"He is still my son, too, Belle," he said finally, his voice hard. She wasn't afraid of that anger, though. Never afraid. "He's my son and I will see him taken care of."

"He's always been taken care of," she shot back. "And I never needed help to do it."

"Well you have help now," he replied angrily as he stood and came around the table to stand next to her. "Whether you want it or not. I have a claim to his well-being too, Belle."

She bristled at his tone, backing away from him so she could look him in the eye again.

Belle wanted to be angry at him, but he was right. Damn it all to hell, he was right.

"I'm sorry," she said finally, relaxing her shoulders by sheer force of will. "I know he's yours, too. I know you didn't lose him on purpose, and I know you would have been there. I do, really. But that almost makes it worse."

"What do you mean?"

"If you were evil, then I'd be the clear winner here," she said, hating the tremor in her voice at this little insecurity she'd barely even admit to herself. "But you're not. It's like a fairy tale for him, isn't it? The little prince destined for greater things than his peasant mother."

"Oh Belle," he said with a sad little smile that shattered her heart into a million tiny pieces.

She wasn't sure if she fell into his arms or if he grabbed her to him, but the next thing she was aware of was his arms wrapped tight around her as she sobbed into his chest.

"He loves you, Belle," Arthur whispered into her hair. "He loves you more than anything. I can't compete with that, and I won't even try."

"I know," she whimpered. "I know you won't."

"Bae will never have another mother," he promised her. "He will never love someone as much as he loves you. You've done such a good job with him, Belle, I can't believe how lucky he's been."

He shushed her as she cried, whispering little words of nonsense as she sobbed until her face was hot and sticky and she had no more tears to cry.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Belle finally mumbled into his soggy coat.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask you about it before," he said softly. "It wouldn't have changed my mind, but I still should have warned you."

She shook her head a little and pulled away from him to wipe her face.

"If you had it would have only meant we'd have had this fight sooner," she admitted. "I was going to react badly no matter what."

"Will you accept the child support at least?"

He sounded close to begging her, and as much as it stung her pride she knew that Bae deserved a mother who could spend more time with him, a mother who wasn't always juggling things, and a mother who wasn't constantly distracted by the knowledge that at any moment it could all come crashing down around her.

"I don't have to be happy about it," she warned. "You owe me nothing, Arthur. You really don't."

"If Milah had kept him," he said idly. "How much do you think I'd have paid for her to care for Bae? Alimony plus child support, after all. Not that I'd have expected her to be able to provide the same level of care as you did, mind. Even at her best I don't think she'd have been capable of it."

"That's different," she interrupted, though she couldn't have explained how it was different.

"I'd have happily done it," he continued. "I'd have happily paid any amount of money to make sure my son had whatever he needed. Even if he were living with a woman I hated more than anything in the world, I'd still have done whatever it took to make sure they had a comfortable life. Why would you expect me to want to do anything less for you?"

"Alright," she said finally. "Call the lawyers back, I'll take it. But you have to get something, too."

"I already do," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her forehead softly. "I know he's been loved. That's all I needed. All I ever needed."

They were both quiet a long moment, and if he was waiting for an answer he didn't get it. Instead, he stepped backwards, opening the door and calling the other two women back in. They were clearly in the middle of a conversation, laughing at some joke Belle didn't know and would never hear. They both saw her puffy red eyes, but both were polite enough not to stare. Abigail mouthed _are you okay? _As she sat, accepting Belle's nod as an answer.

"So," Regina said finally. "I take it you've worked out the child support issue?"

"We've come to an agreement, yes," Gold answered, glancing towards Belle.

"We have," Belle replied. "I'm going to sign."

"Excellent," Regina replied. "So that just leaves the adoption paperwork and this can all be filed with the court."

"Indeed," Abigail said, shooting a glance towards Belle as she passed the paper across the table. "Although hopefully this will be a little more straight forward."

Arthur looked at the paper, before his face went slack and he turned towards Belle with a question brewing behind his dark eyes.

"_Bailey Neal Gold-French_?" Regina read out loud. "I didn't know you'd planned on changing his name."

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Belle admitted to the room as she turned to Arthur. "Bae and I were talking about it, and we thought that since we had to go through all this again that we might as well make all of us a family in name, too."

She knew he wanted to hug her again, but he managed to hold it together as he signed the paperwork that would put his name on their son. This was all he wanted, she realized. To be a part of their lives and to have a right to be there. She could give him that, at least, if nothing else.


End file.
